The mood at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bengaluru was tense and a constant count of MLAs arriving at the venue was being kept track of.
According to the JD(S), 36 of their 38 MLAs were already in the meeting led by HD Kumaraswamy. But reports started trickling in about two 'missing' MLAs, who have been incommunicado since the morning.
TNM however contacted one of the MLAs Venkatarao Nadagouda who made it clear that both legislators were on the way to the meeting.
Nadagouda's vehicle is following Raja Venkatappa Nayak's car to Bengaluru. They are currently in Chikaballapur.
Nadagouda told TNM "We are on our way to Bengaluru to meet other leaders. We have to travel 450 kms hence the delay. We are with Kumaranna. We go by what he says."
He further added, "We are right now in Chikaballapur. I'm coming in a vehicle that is ahead of him (Raja Venkatappa Nayak). We're both coming . There's no question of (us going) missing. We'll coming in an hour or so. We can't say anything about Bengaluru traffic now."
Leaders of the JD(S) had earlier told TNM that the BJP had approached 5 of their MLAs over the last 12 hours. They were however confident that the loyalty of their legislators will not waver.