Karnataka Congress MLAs reach Eagleton resort after CLP meet

Congress on Friday dispatched its Karnataka lawmakers to a resort, following a decision taken at the Legislative Party meeting in the evening, to avoid poaching.

Soon after the meeting, 76 Congress MLAs boarded a bus and left for the resort. Traversing the itinerary, the bus with the Congress MLAs onboard reached the Eagleton resort after a while.

Three Karnataka Congress MLAs on Friday abstained from the Legislature Party meeting which decided to move rest of the 76 legislators to a resort. The meeting was convened by the party to assess whether its flock was intact amid speculation that some of the MLAs had switched over to the BJP.

The party, which had threatened to invoke anti-defection law against those absenting themselves, decided to issue show-cause notices to those who did not make to the meeting.

The Congress, which shares power with JD(S), has 80 MLAs in the 224-member Assembly, including the Speaker. Accordingly, 79 MLAs were expected to attend the CLP meeting held under the supervision of central leaders K C Venugopal and Mallikarjun Kharge.