Karnataka Governor HR Bhardwaj is learnt to have ?upset? the Congress leadership in New Delhi?and pushed it against the wall?by the manner in which he hurriedly recommended President?s Rule in the state without waiting for the high court?s verdict on the disqualification of 16 legislators and allowing due Constitutional process to run its course.
A stern message from the Centre on Tuesday forced the Governor to call for another trust vote on October 14. Party leaders said sacking the BS Yeddyurappa government wasn?t exactly an option the Congress was exploring. The thinking was that the state government, battling a slew of corruption allegations and a growing rebellion within?the party expects more desertions from the BJP fold?would script its own downfall.
?But the Governor?s report ended up painting the Congress and JD(S) as if they are operating out of Raj Bhavan,? said a leader who did not wish to be named. ?The Governor?s over-reach has complicated issues.?
With 105 party legislators in the 208-member Assembly ?excluding 16 MLAs who cannot vote until the high court?s judgement on their disqualification next Monday?the central core committee of the BJP on Tuesday decided to accept the Governor?s proposal. ?We are ready for the vote of confidence, we are confident that we have the numbers,? Yeddyurappa said.
Bhardwaj?s new announcement has hardly helped matters given the high court on Tuesday deferred a decision on disqualification of MLAs to Monday.
Congress sources blamed JD(S) leaders HD Deve Gowda and his son HD Kumaraswamy for ?prematurely? precipitating the political crisis in Karnataka. ?There is no question of forming an alternative government with the JD(S). The JD(S) leadership is apparently in a hurry. We will not play any proactive role in bringing down the BJP government, even though as an opposition party, our MLAs will have to vote against the government during the trust vote,? a senior Congress leader told The Indian Express today.
Meanwhile, the NCP expressed reservation against the imposition of President?s Rule in Karnataka even though the UPA constituent lambasted the Assembly Speaker for disqualifying the legislators. ?We condemn the murder of democracy that was committed by anticipatory disqualification of MLAs. The Speaker tried to grant anticipatory bail to the BJP government in Karnataka. But the use of Article 356 should be the last resort. We are sure Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet will take appropriate Constitutional and democratic decision,? said NCP general secretary DP Tripathi.
NCP sources said the party was strongly opposed to the imposition of President?s Rule as ?it will omit all the sins committed by the BJP and will give it political mileage?.