In letter to Mumbai Police, rebel Karnataka MLAs complain of threat from senior Congress leaders

“We have absolutely no intentions in meeting Mallikarjun Kharge, GN Azad (Ghulam Nabi Azad) or any Congress dignitaries from Maharashtra and Karnataka.”
In a massive loss of face for several senior Congress leaders who are expected to try and reach out to rebel Karnataka MLAs in Mumbai, the said MLAs have written a letter to Mumbai Police in which they have highlighted they feel threatened.
Elaborating in no uncertain terms that they have no intention of meeting with Congress’ senior leadership, 14 dissenting MLAs have written in their letter to Mumbai Police that they anticipate a threat from them. “We have absolutely no intentions in meeting Mallikarjun Kharge, GN Azad (Ghulam Nabi Azad) or any Congress dignitaries from Maharashtra and Karnataka or any political leader as we anticipate serious threat from them,” the letter states. “So we hereby request to kindly make the necessary arrangements to stop these people from meeting us in case the situation arises.”
It has been reported that Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy, deputy CM G Parameshwar and senior Congress leader Kharge are scheduled to arrive in Mumbai on Monday and will attempt to reach out to the dissenting MLAs who are camped in the city’s Renaissance Hotel in a bid to convince them to take back their resignations.
Both Congress and Janata Dal Secular – in alliance in Karnataka – have been working overtime to win back affection from rebel MLAs who have tendered their resignations. While the resignations have not yet been accepted by the Speaker, the coalition government continued to face a massive test. The rebel MLAs have refused to budge from their position and have already said they won’t take back their resignation. They had previously complained of threat when Karnataka minister DK Shivakumar had attempted to meet them. The dissenting MLAs had asked Mumbai Police for security and Shivakumar was halted at the hotel gates and eventually escorted out.
The Congress has since claimed that many of the rebel MLAs are willing to talk, a claim that has so far appeared hollow at best.
The Congress has also blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party of engineering defections and undermining democracy by indulging in horse trading. The BJP has vehemently denied the charge and former Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa has demanded HD Kumaraswamy’s resignation as state CM.