Wife of Karnataka Congress MLA, in hospital after alleged fight, warns legal action

The wife of Karnataka Congress MLA Anand Singh, admitted to hospital after alleged brawl with another party lawmaker JN Ganesh, has threatened to take legal action if the fight reports turned out to be true. “If it is true that Ganesh beat up my husband, my children and I will not keep quiet and will take legal action against him,” said Laxmi Singh, who is currently in Mumbai to attend a relative’s wedding.

The high-intensity political drama in Karnataka turned ugly on Sunday after Anand Singh was hit with a bottle on his head by JN Ganesh at Bengaluru’s Eagleton resort, where the Congress MLAs are holed up amid poaching fears by the BJP.

The Congress party, however, denied the local media reports and said that Singh was hospitalised due to chest pain. “I don’t know about the fight Anand Singh is admitted in hospital due to chest pain. There are no injuries or anything. His parents are here at the hospital. Other issues are just speculations,” ANI quoted DK Suresh as saying.

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Although Laxmi Singh denied any previous rift between the two MLAs, she said that his husband had told him that during the CLP meeting, he had a heated argument with another Congress legislator Bheema Naik.

“No, they are good friends. Yes, my husband told me that in the last Congress Legislature Party meeting, there was a heated exchange with (legislator) Bheema Naik. Other than that, he did not tell me anything,” she said.

The lawmaker’s wife also said that she was not being informed about the exact condition of his her husband. “I have made several calls, but I was told he was sleeping. Nobody is telling me the exact account of my husband’s condition,” she said, adding that her son had spoken to Minister DK Shivakumar, who said that Singh is fine.

Meanwhile, the accused MLA JN Ganesh came out with a clarification and termed the reports of his fight with Singh a "lie". He, however, also said that he will apologise to Singh along with his family if he was hurt. "I did not hurt him. It is all a lie. If he's hurt, I along with my family will go and apologise to him," news agency ANI quoted Ganesh as saying.

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The Congress has been accusing the BJP of trying to topple its coalition government with the JD-S. The party had shifted its 76 MLAs to Bengaluru’s Eagleton resort in a bid to foil any poaching bid by the BJP. The MLAs are likely to return to their homes from the resort after the CLP meeting on Monday.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Anand Singh was admitted to hospital on Sunday.
• Local media reports claimed he was hit by MLA JN Ganesh.
• Ganesh, however, termed the reports of fight a "lie".