Shrimant Patil, a rebel Congress MLA in Karnataka who was taken to a Mumbai hospital on Thursday with chest pain, has denied that he is being held by BJP legislators. His explanation came in an email that Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar read out in the state Assembly on Friday, while the House was in the middle of a tense trust vote.

What Patil said

In his message, Patil said he had gone to Chennai from the Bengaluru resort where legislators were staying and fell ill on the way back. His family doctor, he said, told him to travel to Mumbai, and he had sent his letter of absence in a hurry. He argued that the letter not being on his official letterhead showed the trip was unplanned. “I am not in the custody of BJP MLAs,” he wrote.

Congress allegations

A day earlier the Congress had alleged that Patil, who could not be contacted, had been “kidnapped” in a bid to bring down the coalition. Party MLAs claimed he had been confined to a room, flown to Mumbai on a special flight and then put in hospital, and said legislators were living in fear.

Senior minister DK Shivakumar said the party would produce documents showing Patil had been admitted against his will so that he would miss the vote. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge alleged the BJP had taken Patil to Mumbai as part of its effort to topple the Congress-JD(S) government, and said police were not letting anyone meet him.

What happened next

The Kumaraswamy-led coalition government fell in July 2019, and B. S. Yeddyurappa returned as Chief Minister of Karnataka.

See also: Congress | State assembly members

Originally published on 19 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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