JD(S) alleges DGCA denied permission to charter flights booked to fly MLAs to Kochi

In a bid to prevent horse trading, the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) has been moving its newly elected Karnataka MLAs from resorts and hotels in Bengaluru to undisclosed locations outside the state.

Is there conspiracy in the air in Bengaluru? The Janata Dal (Secular) or JD (S) believes there is after Karnataka’s governor denied the party’s bid to form a government in the state and invited Bharatiya Janata Party leader BS Yeddyurappa.

A party leader told news agency PTI late Thursday chartered flights scheduled to carry JD (S) and Congress legislators from Bengaluru to Kochi in Kerala was denied permission by the country’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, at the last minute.

The politician was asked if the Congress and JD(S) MLAs planned to travel together. “Plan was there....you know what all kinds of things, they are doing,” said the politician.

“We are just working out, all flights have been denied permission...flights that were confirmed, last minute there is a problem,” the unnamed JD(S) leader was quoted by PTI as saying.

A civil aviation ministry official denied the allegation and said permission was not required for charter operations within India.

Fearing the BJP will poach their legislators, the Congress and the JD(S) had decided to fly them to a resort in Kochi but that plan was dropped.

BJP legislature party leader BS Yeddyurappa was on Thursday sworn-in as chief minister of Karnataka and given 15 days to prove his majority in the Assembly.

The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House. The Congress won 78 seats, while the JD(S) was victorious in 37 constituencies.

Polling was held in 222 of the state’s 224 seats, for which results were declared on May 15, delivering up a hung House.