Bengaluru:

A chaotic scene was created in the press conference of Congress party here today during which the 41 odd MLA’s of the party from Gujarat ‘flocked’ at a luxury resort were also present.

Soon after the address by party spokesperson cum senior MLA from Gujarat, Shaktisinh Gohil, a chaotic scene ensued.

Gohil and the Karnataka Minister D K Shivakumar, who was also present in the conference had told newsman that there would be one to one interaction between the media and all the MLA’s but the MLA’s were made to leave the venue soon after.

Many media persons, both local and those who had arrived here in large numbers from Gujarat and elsewhere for the press event, were also seen complaining and running helter skelter to hear a few words or take a byte from the MLA’s.

Gohil was also thrown with a volley of questions about why the MLA’s were leaving the venue in a hurry when he had promised that ‘he will make them freely available’ for one to one chats.

 

The local media persons asked similar questions to minister Shivakumar who was seen trying to placate them.

Interestingly, Gohil earlier had claimed that Congress not only have the numbers necessary to get its candidate Ahmed Patel elected easily for the Rajyasabha but also the seven dissident Congress MLA’s (of Vaghela camp) who have not yet resigned are also in touch with the party. He claimed that they would also vote for Congress candidate hearing voice of their ‘conscience’.

Some of the MLA’s from Banskantha district being criticized for their absence at the time of floods and also Gohil claimed that now there was no flood there.

‘The flood and rain was there on July 24, 25 and 26 when all the MLA’s were there and had reached the venue when no BJP leader was there. Ahmedbhai would have taken out the 53 MLA’s who attended a party meeting then, had he not cared for the floods. But we waited. Even now the party activists, MLA’s associates and others were in the area. What the Gujarat CM was doing was a show off,’ they said.

 

Gohil alleged that what BJP was doing in Gujarat was like a ‘below the belt’ attack with the help of government machinery and agencies like CBI and ED etc.

‘The plan of BJP which first broke our Whip and MLA (did not name Balwantsinh Rajput) and made him resign, was to get 22 MLA’s resigned so that the Congress could have lost even before the election. But apart from the six, some of whom were also made to resign in suspicious manner including our then whip who is associated with a company that supply oil to the Army and the Navy, many foiled it,’ Gohil said.

He also claimed that contrary to media reports the mobile phones of Congress MLA’s brought here have not been taken away.

Gohil said that it was not the fear of the MLA’s being offered money but the fear tactics in which even IPS officials were involved has made the party worried. The MLA’s have come here at their own without any pressure to safeguard the democracy and save them also. ‘Karnataka was chosen because we had no other nearby place to go. At the center it is BJP, in the neighbouring states of Gujarat too it was BJP. So where else could we go. Karnataka being Congress ruled was a safe place for us.

Gohil said that Patel needed only 45 votes for win but he was having support of more than that with 44 Congress MLA, 2 NCP and one JDU member. He also hoped that among the seven other Congress MLA’s, there will be many who would vote for party candidate.

He claimed that there won’t be any cross voting this time around.

“We are fighting for democracy, for truth, and our lives are at stake. The BJP has made a below-the-belt move and tried to trouble us with the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and other such agencies. Our leader Ahmed Patel had told us to go to our constituencies and work for the people affected by the floods. Our MLAs visited their places, We have proof and we can show photos clicked on their mobile phones,” Gohil had earlier said.

“The BJP did not care about the people affected by the floods, it only wanted to buy Congress MLAs,” Gohil said.

Gohil alleged that the BJP has the power to make people vanish. BJP  president) Amit Shah disclosed his assets in his affidavit for the Rajya Sabha polls, but those stories are missing from media websites now. If he (Shah) can remove all media stories, imagine what he can do to our MLAs,” Gohil said.

“Our leaders and their families are being threatened regularly. They are being threatened with jail. They are not able to sleep. If our people wanted to live in luxury in a resort, they could have taken the Rs 15 crore offered by the BJP and travelled across the world,” Gohil said adding that now it the opposition Congress that is being targeted in Gujarat, and later it could be anyone.

On the occasion Saurashtra MLA Paresh Dhanani refuted the earlier reports of any bickering among the MLA’s living in Bangalore. He said that he and other MLA’s were out of state for safety reasons.

The Congress has re-nominated Ahmed Patel, political secretary to party chief Sonia Gandhi, for the election for the upper house of Parliament from Gujarat slated for August 8.

The BJP has fielded party president Amit Shah, Union minister Smriti Irani and former Congress MLA cum whip Balwantsinh Rajput who joined the BJP recently.

DeshGujarat