In the Telangana assembly elections, the Congress seems to be reaching near the magic figure in counting trends as the results unfolded on Sunday (3rd December). In the 119-seat assembly, Congress needs 60 MLAs to secure a clear majority. As the number of seats which once touched 70 in the initial trends is declining towards 60, the Congress is now worried about its MLAs switching sides in the only state it is winning.
The preparations for resort politics are in full swing by the Congress party in Telangana. Buses are brought to the Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad and Karnataka Congress leader and resort management expert DK Shivakumar is seen headling the operations. The Congress and alliance are leading on 63 seats while KC Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samiti is leading on 40 seats. BJP earlier had just one MLA in the assembly. It is now leading on 9 seats in the state.
Congress has stationed buses at the Taj Krishna Hotel in Telangana’s capital Hyderabad, where DK Shivakumar is also present. Reports suggest that in the event of the Congress falling short of the crucial majority, these buses could potentially be utilised to transfer MLAs to Karnataka.
When asked if the party MLAs would be sent to Bengaluru by buses parked outside Taj Krishna in Hyderabad, Congress leader and Karnataka minister Rahim Khan said, “If such a situation comes, the party high command will decide.”
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee Vice President Kiran Kumar Chamala said, “You all know KCR’s working style. Illegal buying and selling is their main agenda. So we have taken some steps. But today, after seeing the results, trends and everything, there is no need for such activity because at least we will have more than 80 seats. Everything’s fine. We are very happy today.”
According to reports, Congress has entrusted DK Shivakumar with the task of tightening the party fencing to prevent any possible attempt of horse-trading by rival BRS in the Telangana elections. Shivakumar and the party’s Karnataka state unit have been asked to keep at least two to three resorts or hotels ready in the Kannada state to accommodate Congress MLAs. Along with this, DK Shivakumar has also been directed to arrange some additional hotels, so that MLAs of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh can also be accommodated there if needed.
Resort politics is an old technique frequently used by Congress to save power in various states. The Congress has also used resort politics to keep its MLAs during different Rajya Sabha elections and State Legislative Council elections. This is usually done by Congress to avoid cross-voting by its elected MLAs.