Karnataka resort brawl: Cops register attempt-to-murder case against suspended Congress MLA JN Ganesh, who hit fellow MLA Anand Singh

Bengaluru: Congress MLA JN Ganesh, who allegedly hit his lawmaker colleague Anand Singh during an alleged brawl at a private resort, was suspended from the party on Monday, shortly after an FIR was filed against him by Singh on charges of attempting to murder him. Police have registered a case against him. The order of suspension came from VY Ghorpade, general secretary of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee on the directions of Dinesh Gundu Rao, the president of the Karnataka wing of the party, reported ANI. Earlier on Monday, Ganesh had claimed he too was injured in the scuffle, an incident that has given an embarrassing twist to the party’s bid to keep its flock together. The legislator said no “bottle attack” had taken place as has been projected in the media, while indicating that some kind of a brawl had taken place between him and Singh at Eagleton Resorts on the city outskirts late on Saturday night. A jittery Congress had shifted its legislators to the resort last Friday, as it feared that the BJP might lure some of them in its alleged bid to destabilise the Congress-JDS coalition government in the state. [caption id=“attachment_5935781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Congress MLA JN Ganesh. ANI[/caption] Singh, who suffered injuries in the scuffle, was admitted to a private hospital on Sunday. Both had come to blows, according to party sources. “Whatever media has created about (my) hitting (Singh) with bottle…14 to 20 stitches…they are all completely false. There were also reports about (me) having bitten our gun man. He is physically present here. This is also a lie,” Ganesh said. Stating that Singh is like an elder brother to him, Ganesh said he and his family respect Singh, whom they have known for the last 15-20 years. “I have not done this to him purposefully. Bhima Naik (another Congress MLA) and Anand Singh (had differences) on some issues, (I) tried to bring them together…but some wrong events happened. If the events that happened there have pained him (Singh), I would apologise to his family. This did not happen intentionally. He was unwell and was hospitalised. Things have been created by the media,” he added. Asked about Singh being injured, Ganesh said “Nothing (as serious) as you might think…I also have (injuries) which I will not talk about…leave it, it is not what you are thinking.” Questioned as to why he was blaming the media, Ganesh said, “Who told you I have hit (Singh) with a bottle? Media is showing it that way, and that is false. Our security guard is here, ask him, reports claimed I have bit him too.” Asked whether reports about him hitting Singh was false, Ganesh said “some incident” had taken place and he was not denying it. “There was some argument. Bhima Naik, Anand Singh and I were there…while trying to work out a compromise between Bhima Naik and Anand Singh, some things happened…there was an argument, leading to a situation,” he said. “I did not hit him, he fell…he fell automatically,” he added. Asked whether Singh fell as he was drunk, he said, “I don’t know about it…I don’t want to comment on whether he had taken drinks…but he fell. Other than that, nothing has happened.” Ganesh said he was issuing the clarification as he did not not want to embarrass his party and the high command. “I along with my family wish to meet Anand anna and apologise to his family,” he added. Ganesh is among the disgruntled Congress MLAs who were reportedly in touch with other dissidents in the party and was on the BJP’s radar in its alleged toppling game. According to sources, he was furious with Singh for foiling his plans to join the BJP by leaking information to the Congress leadership. Meanwhile, a medico legal register of the private hospital where Singh is undergoing treatment, in its report said “history of traumatic injury at around 1 am on 20 January at Eagleton Resort, Bidadi, and sustained injury to head, face and left-side chest pain.” It also said “no history of loss of consciousness, seizure and vomiting” and added that there was complaints of headache and left-side chest pain. According to Congress sources, party legislators who were camped at the resort have started vacating it. MLAs, unhappy over the developments, had been insisting that the party leadership free them from the resort, as they feared “bad publicity” at a time when the state is reeling under drought. With inputs from ANI