'BJP appoints CMs in bars, restaurants' says Ghulam Nabi Azad

New Delhi: Congress’ Rajya Sabha leader and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party to be behind the resignation of Congress-JD(S) MLAs and charged the saffron party of appointing chief ministers “in bars and restaurants”.

His comments came after photos of independent MLA H Nagesh, who quit the coalition government on Monday, a month after he was made minister, boarding a plane at the Bengaluru airport, Hindustan Times reported.

In the photos, Nagesh is seen in the photos with personal assistant of Karnataka BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa. Though the BJP has denied any involvement in the crisis, the Congress says the photographs are proof that the BJP is meddling.

“There is a BJP hand in the Karnataka crisis. Yeddyurappa’s PA was in the plane with rebel MLAs. BJP appoints Chief Ministers in bars and restaurants. They have done this before in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh,” Hindustan Times quoted Azad told to have said this.

Thirteen MLAs have flown to Mumbai after they tendered their resignations. Azad will be leading for Bengaluru after senior leader and MLA Roshan Baig resigned.

The coalition government breathed a sigh of relief after Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar said the resignation letters by eight MLAs were not in prescribed format and they would have to be submitted fresh.

Kumar also scheduled appointments on July 12 and 15 with five of the 13 MLAs to talk about their resignation letters.