Yeddyurappa on dharna as Governor recommends President’s Rule

Mangalore Today News Network

Bangalore, May 16:  The political crisis in Karnataka is at flashpoint. After Governor HR Bhardwaj recommended President’s Rule on Sunday, the BJP is up in arms, with Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa questioning the Governor’s motives.

"As former law minister, the Governor should know procedures...He should have said - before session you prove your majority on floor of the House," the Chief Minister held.

Mr Bhardwaj wrote to the President recommending President’s Rule in the state even after the BJP had managed to win back 11 rebels and was comfortably home with a majority in the Assembly. Sources said the Centre was studying the Governor’s report.

Yeddyurappa has his battleplan in place. He will lead a dharna outside the Raj Bhawan in Bangalore at noon. At one in the afternoon, his Cabinet will meet and he says he might also come to Delhi today. The CM has also written a letter to the President, Prime Minister and Home Minister saying there is a stable majority government in the state.

In Delhi, the NDA brass will meet to discuss the Karnataka crisis.

 
On Sunday, Governor HR Bhardwaj sent a special report to the President saying there was a complete breakdown of the constitutional machinery in the state. He also mentioned that there was rampant corruption in the state.

The Governor further said that Chief Minister Yeddyurappa and the Speaker, KG Bopaiah, had "manipulated the constitutional provisions" during the trust vote in October last year. Hence, he said, the support of the eleven rebel BJP MLAs was irrelevant now.

He recommended that the Assembly be put in suspended animation.

Yeddyurappa reacted immediately, accusing the Congress of misusing the Governor’s office and saying, "it is a conspiracy of the Raj Bhawan and that is not acceptable." He then shot off the letter to the President and the Prime Minister demanding the convening of the Assembly session on Monday.

In Delhi, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley told reporters that the BJP government enjoyed a majority in the Karnataka Assembly and had the support of at least 121 MLAs in the 224-member House with the return of the 11 party rebels.

The Governor, however, had refused to meet the 11 dissident MLAs who had gone to the Raj Bhawan to hand over fresh letters of support for the Yeddyurappa government. He made them wait outside the gates and instead met BJP’s representatives.

Asked whether he would direct the Yeddyurappa-led BJP government to go for a floor test, the Governor said, "Floor tests have not helped Karnataka. It was destroyed by manipulation...I have to seek comments,"

He further questioned the legitimacy of the rebels’ support and said, "I have to decide on their demands but they can’t play smart with me.

The eleven rebel BJP MLAs - who until last week seemed set to pull the plug on the government - did a major turnaround on Sunday by pledging their allegiance to the beleaguered chief minister.

"Yeddyurappa is doing good work...there is no question of change in leadership", said rebel MLA Sarvabhouma Bagali.

In October last year, Yeddyurappa had to prove that his government had not been reduced to a minority. The BJP was besieged by internal dissent and a group of MLAs wanted to vote against Mr Yeddyurappa. Ahead of the trust vote, the Speaker of the Assembly disqualified 16 MLAs - 11 from the BJP and five independents - under anti-defection laws. With their removal, Yeddyurappa just about survived his vote of confidence.

The Supreme Court on May 13 revoked their disqualification. The 16 MLAs had appealed to the Karnataka High Court against the Speaker’s decision. When they lost their case, they brought their complaint to the Supreme Court.