Cong to send another notice to 4 truant MLAs

The Congress will issue one more notice to four legislators asking them to appear before the leadership in person for having skipped a recent legislature party meet, state Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao said Tuesday.

Gokak MLA and former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, Athani MLA Mahesh Kumatahalli, Chincholi MLA Umesh Jadhav and Bellary MLA B Nagendra have issued show-cause notices seeking an explanation for skipping the CLP meet on January 18, amid speculation that they might jump ship and join the BJP.

Three of them - Ramesh, Kumatahalli and Nagendra - have responded to the show-cause notice.

“Another notice will be issued to all four because so far they haven’t come to the party in person. Three of them have responded only by letter. So, they’ll have to come before the CLP leader and explain why they were absent,” Rao told reporters. “It’s okay if they weren’t around for a couple of days. But if they’re missing for weeks, then there’s a problem,” he said.