Some Newly-elected JD(S), Cong MLAs reach Hyderabad

Amid a power struggle in Karnataka, some of the newly-elected JD(S) and Congress MLAs from the state arrived in the city today and are expected to be lodged in five-star hotels or resorts here, party sources said.

The legislators arrived here by road from Bangalore, the sources said.

"All the MLAs of Congress and JD(S) are coming here. We are all staying here," Congress MP from Karnataka D K Suresh said.

However, it is not clear whether all the MLAs were coming to the Telangana capital and would stay in one place.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had met JD(S) chief and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda at the latter's residence before the Karnataka polls.

Rao had appealed to Telugu people living in the neighbouring state to vote for the JD(S).

The JD(S) last night alleged that chartered flights that were scheduled to carry its legislators along with those of the Congress from Bangalore to Kochi were denied permission by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation at the last minute.

However, a Civil Aviation Ministry official had said that DGCA permission was not required for charter operations within India.

Fearing poaching of their legislators by the BJP, the Congress and the JD(S) had earlier decided to fly them from out of Karnataka.

BJP legislature party leader B S Yeddyurappa was yesterday sworn-in as the chief minister of Karnataka.

Yeddyurappa has 15 days to prove his majority in the Assembly.

The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House.The Congress won 78 seats, while the JD(S) was victorious in 37 constituencies.

Polling was held in 222 of the state's 224 seats, for which results were declared on May 15, delivering a hung House.