In the thick of a political drama

                                    

Keeping its MLAs together as one flock was the most important thing at the moment. In the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress and the JD(S) shifted their newly elected MLAs from Karnataka to Hyderabad. The political tension in Karnataka was mounting. Elections to the Assembly were held on May 12, 2018. When the results were declared on May 15, there was a fractured verdict. No party got an absolute majority. The BJP got 104 seats, the Congress got 78 seats, the Janata Dal (Secular) got 37 seats and others got three seats.

The total number of seats was 224. However, to form a government, 112 seats were needed. By virtue of emerging as the single largest party with 104 seats, the BJP staked claim to forming the government. The BJP put forward before Governor Vajubhai Vala that the party would be able to prove its majority in a floor test in the House. It said it would be able to secure the support of others to cross the majority mark.
On May 17, B. S. Yediyurappa of the BJP was sworn in as Chief Minister by the Governor.
The Congress and the JD(S) said both parties together would be able to form the government as they had 115 seats between them. This was three seats more than the 112 needed.
The Governor chose to invite the BJP to form the government and also gave it 15 days to prove its majority on the floor of the House.
Keeping their flock together was extremely important for the Congress and the JD(S). Lest the MLAs be approached by the BJP, both parties worked on protecting their legislators. It was in these circumstances that the MLAs were brought to Hyderabad in two buses. Taj Krishna hotel at Road No. 1, Banjara Hills, was the main hotel where most of them were kept.
Access to the MLAs was tightly controlled. They were not to be accessible to anyone. Despite having more seats than the JD(S), the Congress leadership offered the JD(S) the Chief Minister’s post, though it had only 37 seats.
While the Congress and the JD(S) protected their newly elected MLAs, the Supreme Court was also approached against the Governor’s decision to invite the BJP to form the government and give it 15 days to prove its majority on the floor of the House. On May 18, the Supreme Court ruled that the floor test should be held within 24 hours and not within 15 days as the Governor had provided.
The Congress and JD(S) MLAs who arrived in Hyderabad on May 18 were ushered into the Taj Krishna hotel by party functionaries tasked with handling the situation. The flock was kept together, but the stay at the hotel barely lasted any time as they were soon on their way back to Bengaluru for the floor test scheduled for May 19.
The MLAs, who had travelled for nearly 10 hours, were to take the 580-km journey back to Bengaluru for the floor test.
In such an extremely guarded operation, I did a video report from inside the hotel. No other media organisation had access inside. There were hordes of media personnel and television crews outside the hotel but, quite naturally, there were restrictions. No one was allowed in. Not a single news reporter. But I was there.
How did I come to be in the thick of the developments?
That is another story. For another time.
Was I just there — as they say — “at the right time at the right place”? The answer is ‘no’.
Or was it that the Congress party or the JD(S) provided me access? The answer is ‘no’.
Was it that the hotel facilitated it? The answer is ‘no’.
Did anyone at all help me get in there? The answer is ‘no’.
So, how then was I able to be there?
That is another story. For another time.

Image: AI Generated

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