Karnataka crisis: Day after Siddivinayak temple visit, rebel MLAs leave for Shirdi from Mumbai to offer prayers at Saibaba shrine

Mumbai: Rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs, who are staying at a hotel in Mumbai, left for Shirdi on Saturday morning for darshan at the famous Saibaba temple. At least ten legislators of Congress-JD(S) coalition boarded a chartered plane from Mumbai airport to offer prayers at the temple, which is located more than 200 kilometers from here. On Friday, the MLAs visited the famous Siddhivinayak temple here and had lunch at a south Indian restaurant. The rebel MLAs returned to the hotel here on late Thursday night after meeting the Karnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar in Bengaluru. The Supreme Court had directed them to meet the Speaker and resubmit their resignations afresh. In a new twist in the Karnataka political stalemate, the apex court on Friday ordered a status quo until Tuesday on a plea filed by 10 dissident MLAs of Congress and JD(S) seeking a direction to the Assembly Speaker to accept their resignation and not proceed with the applications for their disqualification.