'BJP appoints CMs in bars’: Ghulam Nabi Azad’s on Karnataka crisis

New Delhi, July 09: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday charged the BJP of orchestrating the resignation of MLAs and accused it of appointing chief ministers "in bars and restaurants".

"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," said senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Azad's comments came after Nagesh, the independent lawmaker who quit the coalition government on Monday, barely a month after he was made minister, was seen in photos at the Bengaluru airport, boarding a special plane that flew him to Mumbai.

The year-old Congress-Janata Dal (S) coalition government in Karnataka is on the brink of collapse after a spate of resignations by MLAs.

The Karnataka Assembly has 225 members, including one nominated MLA. The halfway mark in the 225-member Assembly is 113.