Soon after the meeting, all the 76 MLAs were bundled in buses and taken to Eagleton Golf Resort on the outskirts on Bengaluru.
The Karnataka Congress seems to be nervous after four of its MLAs skipped the crucial legislature party meeting in Bengaluru. The party, which is ruling the state in alliance with the Janata Dal - Secular (JDS) decided to shift its lawmakers to a Bengaluru resort after the meeting on Friday evening.
The four MLAs who skipped the meeting are - Ramesh Jarkiholi, B Nagendra, Mahesh K and Umesh Jadhav. However, Jadhav wrote to Siddaramaiah claiming he was unwell.
The absence of four lawmakers posed no imminent threat to the seven-month old Congress-JDS government in the numbers game but suggested that all was not well within the Congress which is still wrestling with dissidence.
Talking to reporters, veteran Congress leader and former CM Siddaramaiah said that 76 MLAs were present during the meeting. He said notice will be sent to the absent leaders and further action will be taken in consultation with high command in New Delhi. Soon after the meeting, all the 76 MLAs were bundled in buses and taken to Eagleton Golf Resort on the outskirts on Bengaluru.
Siddaramaiah accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of destabilising the Congress-JDS government and claimed that huge money was being offered to party MLAs to lure them to switch sides.
"Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and central ministers are also involved in this process of destabilising our government. They approached our MLAs with huge offers of 50-70 crores. I have proof. How come a chowkidar has so much money?" he said.
