Bengaluru: With elections to the Rajya Sabha and state Legislative Council looming, the JD(S) is reportedly not keen on taking action against Gangavathi MLA, Iqbal Ansari just now, though he has challenged it to expel him for hobnobbing with the Congress.
Mr Ansari not only campaigned for the Congress in ZP-TP polls, but also called himself a Congress MLA while daring the party to show him the door.
But the JD(S) leadership has decided not to be provoked in view of the coming Council and Rajya Sabha polls where every vote will count. A senior JD(S) leader says Mr Ansari has become a “hot potato” for the party , which it can neither swallow nor spit out.
Given the number of MLAs it has, the party is in no position to expel him, according to him. “If he is expelled, the party will have no control over him as its whip is not applicable to expelled members.
Mr Ansari merely wants to escape the anti-defection law and so the party has decided to ignore his antics,” he said.
Another party MLA, Zameer Ahmed Khan too has not crossed the 'lakshman rekha' despite his criticism of JD(S) leader H.D Kumaraswamy, according to party insiders.
Although Mr Khan has been making comments against the JD(S) state president, they say the tiff is more like one between Tom and Jerry as the two men are close friends.
