Confined MLAs walk to freedom

After 10 days of confinement, Congress and JD(S) legislators walked free on Friday when the alliance proved its majority in the Legislative Assembly.

The legislators were holed up together since the night of May 16, a day after the Congress and the JD(S) announced their post-poll alliance, to keep them from being poached by the BJP.

Now, however, some legislators are expected to remain camped in Bengaluru or head to Delhi to lobby for ministerial berths.

On May 16, the Congress herded its legislators to a resort in Bidadi, about 40 km from Bengaluru. When the threat of defection loomed large, the party moved the legislators out of Karnataka. Late on May 17 night, a plan was chalked out to take the MLAs to Hyderabad by road.

The legislators were brought back for the BJP’s floor test on May 19 and were lodged in a luxury hotel ever since. Congress leader D K Shivakumar was tasked with ensuring that no MLA was poached.

JD(S) MLAs’ journey

JD(S) MLAs stayed mostly in another luxury hotel in the city, then in Hyderabad along with Congress MLAs, then back in the hotel and were then moved to a resort in Devanahalli till Friday’s floor test.