The Congress troubleshooter from Karnataka DK Shivakumar and other party leaders were prevented from entering the premises of a hotel in Mumbai and meeting the rebel MLAs stationed there.
After reaching Mumbai on Wednesday morning, Shivakumar directly went to the Renaissance Hotel in Powai to meet the 10 disgruntled MLAs who have been camping there since Saturday (July 6). He went there to pacify them but was blocked by the police. The hotel also cancelled his booking, citing security reasons.
The Congress lawmaker said that he has booked a room at the hotel and wanted to meet his brothers. "My brothers are here, I wanted to meet them, we were in government together, there were some issues, we want to negotiate and sort out the issue," Shivakumar said.
Shivakumar claimed that the rebel MLAs were forcefully kept inside the hotel. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were allowed inside, Congress leaders have been denied permission to meet them, he said. He added that he did not come to fight but to talk with his friends and brothers in the party. If the MLAs fear any threat, an IPS officer of the rank of deputy commissioner of police can accompany him to the hotel and his room, he added.
The hotel was under tight security cordon due to the Congress leader's visit. The government has deployed State Reserve Police and Riot Control Units around the hotel to prevent him from entering. Meanwhile, other reports said the dissident MLAs were shifted from Renaissance hotel to an undisclosed location.
According to the reports, the dissident MLAs -- ST Somshekar, Shivram Hebbar, BC Patil, Byrati Basavraj, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumathalli, Gopalaiyya, Narayan Gowda, Pratapgowda Patil and H Vishwanath -- approached the police seeking security as they fear that DKS will storm into the hotel and threaten them. They wrote a letter to the Mumbai Police Commissioner saying that they don't want to meet their state leaders. "Kind request to help us in this matter and do not allow them to enter the hotel premises," the letter read.
