Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief D. K. Shivakumar claimed on Thursday that Madhya Pradesh Congress MLA Manoj Chaudhary's father Narayan Chaudhary had come to Bengaluru as his son had telephoned him and asked him to come and take him back to Bhopal.
According to Shivakumar, the father, along with two ministers from MP—Jitendra Patwari, and Lakhan Singh Yadav—reached the resort near Bengaluru International Airport, where the Congress MLAs were holed up. However, the police prevented the Congress leaders from meeting the "rebel" MLAs, who were huddled in Embassy Boulevard, a gated community in Hunasemaranahalli, Yelahanka.
"I got the information that our party leaders from Madhya Pradesh were in trouble and I intervened to secure their release as they had been taken to the police station following a scuffle at the resort. These people are my friends and guests and it is my duty to help them in whichever way possible. But I cannot reveal our next plan of action," said Shivakumar, during a press briefing at his Sadashivanagar residence.
Narrating the incident, Narayan, father of Manoj Chaudhary, MLA from Hitpipaya (Dewas) said, "My son, MLA Manoj Choudhary, left Dewas a couple of days back. I came to know that 18-20 MLAs were in a resort in Bengaluru. The family members were worried as he was not accessible through mobile phone too. I came here with Jitubhai and Yadav ji, who are like family. When we reached the resort from the airport, someone at the gate told us it had a restaurant. We went in and spotted my son in the swimming pool. But there was police and they apprehended us."
Upset at being manhandled, Narayan said, "We are not criminals and it is a public place. As a father am I not allowed to speak to my son? It was clearly a case of misuse of power. The behaviour of the police with a sitting MLA and ministers was shocking. They called in two vehicles and drove us away to the police station as if riots had broken out. We were freed only after Jitubhai called up Shivakumar ji and we came to his residence. I still want to meet my son."
"When the father and son tried to meet, they were separated and the police started harassing us. We remained cool though they created chaos. A father was stopped from meeting his son and a brother stopped from meeting his brother. Are we living in a democracy? Keeping the Congress MLAs under police security is a ploy of the BJP. We would gave been arrested if not for the timely intervention of Shivakumar ji, " said Patwari.
Making an emotional appeal to the MLAs, Patwari asked them to weigh the pros and cons before taking a decision.
"I know each of the (rebel) MLAs personally and they are the ones who have accepted the ideology of the Congress party. I know you (MLAs) might be under tremendous pressure. But let me remind you that you have fought hard for the last 15 years to bring the Congress party to power in Madhya Pradesh. Why did they bring you all and keep you with the BJP men, and are now preventing you from meeting or talking to your own family? It is a murder of democracy. I appeal to all the members, though I am younger to you all, to take a wise decision," said Patwari, higher education minister, who is a cousin of Manoj Choudhary.
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Patwari assured the party MLAs that the Congress party's fortunes would change soon. "Remember, our party symbol is the hand. The political situation too will change. Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress, joined the BJP and will now get elected to the Rajya Sabha and become a central minister too. But why are you sacrificing your five years by resigning. We must respect the mandate of the people who have elected us. I understand your loyalty towards Scindia ji, and I too was loyal to him as long as he was in our party. You might be under emotional pressure. But don't disrespect the vote. I know you were forced to make those videos saying you had come here at your own free will. If that is really the case what is the harm in meeting me? Who is the police to stop us?," he asked.
The Congress leaders expressed their intent to meet the senior police officers and try to meet the MLAs in the resort. "We are two of us and we are not here to abduct them. Is it an offence if I want to meet my friends and have a cup of tea," asked Patwari.
To a question, the Congress leaders argued that even if the MLAs were wanting to topple the government, there was a different process like a trust vote. "Our contention is why are we being stopped from meeting our MLAs and some anti-social elements and police are preventing us by use of force. They were referring to us as goondas! We are ministers and have never seen such unruly behaviour in Madhya Pradesh," rued Yadav.
