To let go or not: The dilemma of the Congress in Karnataka

Bengaluru, Jan 21: The Congress finds itself in a tricky situation in Karnataka as it continues to keep its legislators in a resort to avoid poaching. The Congress is expected to be set its legislators free today amidst anxiety that some may switch over to the BJP.

For the Congress, the dilemma is two-fold. One one hand it wants to keep its flock together and on the other hand there is public opinion building up against resort politics.

A source said that the legislators would walk out of the resort today. The source also spoke about a counter-strategy, where it would tap first time legislators of the BJP, who had switched over just before the assembly elections were held last year.

However the more important thing would be to keep its flock together the source also added. Once set free from the resort, a team would constantly monitor the legislators to ensure that none are in touch with the BJP.

Meanwhile the four Congress legislators, believed to be holed up in Mumbai, continue to give the party sleepless nights. There have been indications since the past week that they may resign from the party. There are also reports that four more may follow suit.

The BJP on the other hand continues to play the wait and watch game. For the party the bigger strategy for now is to derail the alliance of the Congress and JD(S), which can cause a potential problem for it in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The next few days would be interesting and all eyes would be on the four legislators who have remained unreachable for the Congress. If the four legislators resign then the stage would be set for another drama in the state.

Meanwhile on Sunday, an MLA from Hospete, Anand Singh was admitted to hospital after he sustained an injury following a brawl with a fellow legislator. Reports said that Kampli MLA, J N Ganesh hit Singh with a bottle on his head following a heated argument. The Congress however sought to downplay the incident.