Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar, who was the first to disclose the whereabouts of the three Congress MLAs, has been tasked with coaxing the trio into changing their minds and bringing them back to the state.
The Congress’ trusted troubleshooter is heading to Mumbai, on the pretext of attending the ‘9th International Conference on Micro Irrigation for Modern Agriculture’, being held in Aurangabad.
Shivakumar will fly to the business capital at 4.55 pm on Tuesday, where he will halt the night. The two-day conference is being held on January 16 and 17 in Aurangabad. The minister is scheduled to fly back to Bengaluru on January 17 night.
Shivakumar had on Sunday said he was aware that his party MLAs were lodged in Mumbai and that the party would take stock of the situation.
Till date, Shivakumar, who has been entrusted with such responsibilities on previous occasions, has never let his party down. When asked about the latest developments, Shivakumar said his party, too, had some tricks up its sleeve. “All these days, we were not indulging in politics. Now we will,” he said.
Sources, however, said that the Congress had not asked Shivakumar to go bring the MLAs back.
“There is no need for us to do that. The BJP does not have adequate numbers. Shivakumar will of course be keeping an eye on the MLAs,” said a Congress leader.
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