Mumbai: The Karnataka coalition crisis took a stunning turn on Wednesday as senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar was stopped from entering the five-star hotel in Mumbai where rebel lawmakers are staying, after they wrote to the police for protection from him. “They are frightened of you. We cannot allow you to enter because of the letter,” a Mumbai police officer said during an argument with Shivakumar, who insisted he had booked a room in the Renaissance hotel.
“I won’t go, I will wait here all day,” Shivakumar told the police as protesters hanging off the gate shouted: “Go back.”
“Allow me to go to my room, I want to meet my friends, sit, relax, have coffee with them,” the Congress leader, known to be a skilled troubleshooter, told the media as the police firmly blocked him.
“I’ll not go without meeting my friends. They’ll call me. Their heart will break. I’m in touch already, hearts of both of us are beating,” Shivakumar said.
He also flashed the booking confirmation on his phone. The hotel soon cancelled his booking, citing an “emergency”.
Settling down to an uncertain wait outside the hotel while having coffee and momos, Shivakumar hit out at the BJP, which rules Maharashtra, and said the party’s hand in destabilizing the Congress-Janata Dal Secular government in Karnataka was obvious.
Thirteen rebels have been in Mumbai since they submitted their resignations on Saturday, plunging the coalition government into the danger zone.
Speaker Ramesh Kumar examined the resignations on Tuesday, three days later, and declared eight “not in order”. This gave the coalition a tiny breather even though the BJP, confident of a majority, looks ready to strike.
On Tuesday night, the rebel Karnataka lawmakers wrote to the Mumbai police for protection from their own Chief Minister, HD Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar, who are attempting to bring them back. Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar could “storm” their hotel and should not be allowed on the premises, 10 lawmakers wrote to the Mumbai police chief.
Heavy security was posted at the Renaissance hotel soon after the letter.
Shivakumar, a Karnataka minister and the Congress’s chief crisis man, arrived in Mumbai this morning and declared: “We’ve come to meet our friends. We were born together in politics, we will die together in politics. They are our party men.”
Shivakumar drove straight from the airport to the hotel and argued with the police at the gates, determined to contact the rebels whose resignations, if accepted, will plunge the Congress-JDS coalition government into a minority.
“We don’t intend to insult DK Shivakumar. We’ve faith in him but there is a reason we have taken this step. Friendship, love and affection are on one side, with gratitude and respect we request him to understand why we cannot meet him today,” said B Basavaraj, a rebel Congress lawmaker.
Since last week, the year-old Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka has been fighting for survival with as many as 14 exits.
Shivakumar’s efforts had kept the coalition running, despite unending dissension, for over a year. This time, he faces a group of lawmakers who have refused to change their mind after submitting their resignations on Saturday.
“We have heard that Shri Kumaraswamy and Shri Shivakumar are going to storm the hotel premises and we feel threatened because of the same. We do not want to meet him. Kind request to help us in this matter and do not allow them to enter the hotel premises,” the rebels had written to the Mumbai police on Tuesday night.
The rebels have gone to the Supreme Court, alleging that the Speaker has “abandoned his constitutional duty and is deliberately delaying accepting their resignations. Their case will be taken up on Thursday. They were represented in court by former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi.
The rebel lawmakers, flown to Mumbai by a special plane linked to BJP parliamentarian Rajeev Chandrashekhar, had checked into Sofitel on Saturday and moved to the Renaissance Hotel on Monday.
The BJP, which will have a majority if the resignations stand, has launched protests and demanded that the coalition be sacked as it has lost its majority. Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa is on a sit-in protest outside the Vidhana Souda or assembly building in Bengaluru against the Speaker.
Shivakumar has accused the BJP of engineering the resignations. The Congress pointed out that BJP leaders have been regular visitors to the Mumbai hotels where the lawmakers are staying.
The BJP, which failed to form government in Karnataka last year after falling short of a majority, has denied any role in the coalition crisis.
If the resignations stand, the Congress-JDS coalition’s 118 members in the 224-seat state assembly will come down to 102 and the majority mark will drop from 113 to 105. The BJP has 105 members and the support of the two Independents, which takes its tally to 107.
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