Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who resorted to a sit-in dharna in Bengaluru after the city police refused his meeting with the 22 rebel MLAs from Madhya Pradesh, has been taken into preventive custody. Singh has been detained at the Amruthahalli police station along with Madhya Pradesh Congress leaders Sachin Yadav, Kantilal Bhuria and newly elected Karnataka Congress president D.K. Shivakumar.
"We have been taken to the local DCP office by Bengaluru police. I demand that we must be allowed to meet our MLAs , who are in BJP’s captivity. I announce my hunger strike, till we are allowed to meet our MLAs. We live in democracy, not dictatorship (sic)," Singh tweeted after his detention.
"Singh is contesting to the Rajya Sabha and wants to meet his MLAs who are also the voters. It is his democratic right," said Shivakumar. The Congress's Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh arrived in Bengaluru early morning on Wednesday and was received by Shivakumar. "The Karnataka government is misusing the police force to topple the MP government," alleged Rizwan Arshad, Shivajinagar MLA from Bengaluru, on the arrests.
Earlier in the day, the premises of Ramada hotel, where the 22 rebel MLAs are lodged in Bengaluru, witnessed unruly scenes as Singh resorted to a sit-in dharna in response to police refusing him to meet the legislators. "We have audio and video clips to prove the BJP has offered inducements to our MLAs," he claimed.
[Left] Digvijaya Singh with Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar. [Right] Singh on sit-in outside Hotel Ramada in Bengaluru
Dramatic scenes unfolded outside the resort, even as the police tried to remove him from the spot. Singh later claimed that he was being detained by the Bengaluru Police, adding that he was a Gandhian and would go on a hunger strike if not allowed to meet his party colleagues.
Talking to mediapersons, Singh said he was no security threat and should be allowed to meet his party MLAs. "My 22 MLAs have been held captive here in Bangalore. They want to talk to me. Their phones have been snatched. Let me allow to meet them," he said. He also claimed that the MLAs were willing to meet him, but the police denied him entry into the hotel. He also mentioned that he was a candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections and was in Bengaluru to meet his party MLAs.
Furthermore, Singh made serious allegations of forgery saying the letter purportedly written by the rebel MLAs seeking police protection had forged signatures. "Mahender Singh Sisodia was a minister in my cabinet and he told me they are being held captive and asked me to come and take him. "BJP MLA Arvind Bhadoriya and an MP are holding them captive. Why can't I meet my MLAs, my voters (for the Rajya Sabha election), my own party people. What is the BJP doing in between?" he charged at the saffron party.
After former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress, 22 MLAs of the ruling party, also submitted their resignations, pushing the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government to the brink of collapse. Of these, the speaker has accepted resignations of six MLAs.
