The Congress on Sunday accused BJP of trying to buy out its party legislators before the Rajya Sabha polls. The Congress has sent 44 of its legislators to a resort outside Bengaluru. Of the 57 Congress MLAs in Gujarat, six resigned from the party in the last two days. Three of them joined the BJP on Saturday.
“Democracy is passing through trying times. I would request media owners, channels and newspapers to save democracy. This responsibility lies with them too. We will bring all the legislators before you (media) and you can ask anything you want,” AICC spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said on Sunday.
“I am here since last night with my colleagues. We are living like a family. You (BJP) are talking about the internal problem? Just see how we respect each other. There is no internal problem or bickerings between us,” he quoted.
Gohil added, “Ask these MLAs the way they are threatened, they chose to stand by the party even when offered Rs 15 crore.” Gohil accused the BJP of threatening party members. “We have required numbers. There is no need for us to stay here (in Bengaluru) for even a minute if they say they won’t threaten us,” he said.
Reacting to reports of Congress leaders switching off cell phones and being unavailable to the public on purpose, Gohil said, “When there was flood in Banaskantha, my MLAs were there with people but no BJP minister, leader or CM were there.”
The Congress in Gujarat had flown MLAs to Karnataka allegedly for fear of them abandoning ship and joining the BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections. After veteran leader, Shakarsingh Vaghela quit the party, three of the Congress MLAs followed the suit and resigned from the party to join BJP.
