Congress MLA Anand Singh surfaces in Hyderabad, Pratap to join group today

Bengaluru/New Delhi: A day ahead of the trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly, Anand Singh, the Hosapete Congress MLA who supposedly went ‘missing’ and whom Congress leaders claim had been 'abducted' and 'kept in wrongful confinement' by BJP leaders, turned up in Hyderabad at the five star facility where the Congress and JD(S) legislators are staying until they leave for Bengaluru Saturday morning.

Singh, a former close aide of mine baron Janardhan Reddy had switched sides, abandoning the BJP for the Congress in these assembly polls.

The Congress’ plan to safeguard its MLAs from the lure of the mine baron Janardhan Reddy’s lucre, may be working. High level sources in the Janata Dal (S) also told this newspaper that Pratapgowda Patil, the missing MLA from Maski had informed them that he too would join them in Hyderabad on Saturday morning to take the flight to Bengaluru where both, he and Singh, would vote for the JD(S)-Congress coalition. Patil is one of the signatories on the list of MLAs backing the Congress that was handed to the governor.

The Congress swung into action to keep its flock together after both leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad and former Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah on Friday launched a blistering attack on the BJP ahead of crucial floor test of newly sworn-in CM B. S. Yeddyurappa, on Saturday.

The BJP was accused for the third day running of making overtures to several Lingayat MLAs from the Congress.

Former CM Siddaramaiah, former energy minister D.K. Shivakumar and other senior Congress leaders maintained that none of the Congress or JD(S) MLAs would switch over to the BJP though BJP workers have been circulating WhatsApp messages with the names of Congress and JD (S) MLAs who are set to favour the saffron party during Saturday’s trust vote.