Time seems to be moving slow for Congress MLAs as they remained confined to a resort here on Thursday, virtually cut off from the world.
The Eagleton Golf Resort has become home to 75 out of 78 Congress legislators. Barring some who are with family, legislators have no way of being contacted as their phones have been taken away, party sources said. Their only outing was to the Vidhana Soudha to stage a dharna. They were promptly taken back to the resort.
The Congress’ Man Friday, D K Shivakumar, and his brother D K Suresh are watching every movement of the legislators. Sample this: Humnabad MLA Rajashekar Patil, who sought leave claiming illness, was stopped by the District Armed Reserve (DAR) personnel near the resort gate for more than 20 minutes. He was allowed to go only after senior leader K J George intervened.
The tension in the Congress’ camp was palpable. Apparently, Shivakumar and Suresh have been giving pep talks to instil confidence among the legislators.
The party leaders are said to be contemplating to shift the MLAs to a resort outside the state. It is speculated that they will be taken away to Kochi in Kerala.
Former Minister U T Khader, however, played things down. “There’s no fear among us,” he said. “I was in Mangaluru for a day and I’ve just arrived. Similarly, (Anand) Singh and others will return.”
While JD(S) legislators are camping at a star hotel in Bengaluru, the party’s state president Kumaraswamy spent the night at the resort.