Fourteen of the 19 MLAs, including seven Ministers, who withdrew support to the BJP government in Karnataka led by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, left for Mumbai from here late on Wednesday night. Earlier they had flown in from Chennai around 7.45 pm on Jet Airways flight 9W 2733.
Speaking to The Hindu on arrival, P.M. Narendra Swamy, Minister for Animal Husbandry, said that the independent MLAs were forced to revolt as the Chief Minister treated them like slaves.
He said that the portfolios allocated to them were of no use.
Stating that they were not allowed to function with freedom, Mr. Swamy said that they had taken a democratic decision for the betterment of the State. He said that 10 BJP MLAs and four independents had come here.
Anand Asnotikar, Minister for Fisheries, Science and Technology, said that many MLAs had now come out against the Chief Minister. They had called them and promised their support, he said.
Claiming that the MLAs withdrew support for getting a good leader and also to ensure development of the State, Mr. Asnotikar hoped that the party leadership would consider the development seriously.
Besides Mr. Swamy and Mr. Asnotikar, the Ministers who reached here included Shivaraj Tangadagi, D. Sudhakar, Venkataramanappa, Balachandra Jarkiholi, and S. Renukacharya.
Initially it was expected that they would move into a hotel here and put up for the night. Later speaking to The Hindu over telephone around 10.30 pm, Mr. Swamy said that they were staying back at the airport itself and would board the first available one out. Reliable sources in Air India told this correspondent that the MLAs flew out on the AI 691 Cochin-Mumbai flight at 11.30 pm.
