Breather for Yeddy: After Delhi Parade, Scene Shifts to Bangalore
By Gabriel Vaz
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, May 17: Even as Congress-led UPA regime showed signs of developing cold feet over implementing Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj’s recommendation for imposing President’s Rule and keeping the State Assembly in suspended animation, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa accompanied by national BJP President Nitin Gadkari and other Central leaders along with all the 120 MLAs supporting him led a massive parade before Rashtrapathi Bhavan to prove that he enjoys a clear majority.
Nitin Gadkari, who has consistently stood behind Yeddyurappa even when he faced a serious revolt within the ruling party and was accused of serious charges of corruption, nepotism, land scams and other irregularities, along with BJP opposition leaders in both houses of parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitely, and other leaders joined the beleaguered Chief Minister in meeting President Pratibha Patil in Rashtrapathi Bhavan and urging her to reject Bhardwaj’s ''unconstitutional and politically motivated" report aimed at destabilizing a duly-elected State Government despite its clear majority of 121 members out of the 223 members in the Assembly, excluding a vacant seat.
All the Cabinet colleagues of Yeddyurappa and ruling BJP MLAs, including 10 out of the 11 party MLAs, whose disqualification from the membership of the House by the Chief Minister’s pliant Speaker K G Bopaiah was nullified by the Supreme Court on May 13, as also national party general secretary Ananth Kumar, who had openly aligned himself with the anti-Yeddyurappa elements, joined in the delegation for staging a massive parade before the Rashtrapathi Bhavan in the full glare of the media.
''We have apprised the President of the anti-constitutional activities of the Governor and have asked her to totally reject the recommendations for unseating a government enjoying full confidence of the House," Gadkari told reporters after meeting the President. ''We have also demanded immediate recall of the Governor," he added.
Yeddyurappa, on his part, thanked the national leadership of the party for rallying behind him and joining in protesting against the high-handed, undemocratic and unconstitutional actions of the Governor. The Chief Minister made a special mention of Sushma Swaraj, who is considered as the ''amma" or mother by the all powerful Bellary Reddy brothers, Arun Jaitely and Ananth Kumar.
The Chief Minister later announced that the BJP legislators would be flying to Bangalore by a special flight on Wednesday morning and would continue their fight against Bhardwaj in Bangalore. ''We will stage a dharna in front of Raj Bhavan tomorrow and will keep up the pressure for the recall of the Governor," he declared.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, according to reports from Delhi, consulted his senior Cabinet colleagues including Home Minister P Chidambaram, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony, Communications and Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, the last two being former chief ministers of Karnataka, on the Governor’s report.
Though a broad consensus eluded the meeting, Chidambaram, Antony, Kapil Sibal and Krishna reportedly advised the Prime Minister against accepting the Governor’s report as long as Yeddyurappa enjoyed a clear majority in the House. However, Moily and even Mukherjee were believed to have contended that the developments in Karnataka demanded a strong action as horse-trading was very ramphant in the State. Incidentally, with Pranab Mukherjee leaving for Assam by afternoon, the Union Cabinet could not take place in the evening following the Karnataka crisis and the Governor’s report as scheduled.
Incidentally, Governor Bhardwaj, who had held prior consultations with the Prime Minister and other Central leaders soon after the apex court’s verdict was pronounced on May 13 and had forwarded his report through a special emissary soon after his arrival from Delhi on May 14 afternoon, is reported to have told his close confidants that he would put in his papers if the Centre refused to accept his report for the second time. It may be recalled that Bhardwaj had recommended dismissal of the Yeddyurappa ministry in October last year after the 11 BJP MLAs and 5 independents informed him writing about their decision to seek ouster of the Chief Minister. The Governor had given an opportunity to Yeddyurappa to prove his majority on the floor of the House and the Chief Minister had prevailed upon the Speaker to hurriedly disqualify the 16 MLAs, which precipitated the entire crisis.
State Higher Education Minister Dr V S Acharaya, who is considered quite close to the Chief Minister and enjoys the status of being the leader of the house in the Legislative Council, told reporters in Bangalore that the ''time has come to the Governor to leave the Raj Bhavan. He is acting more like a Congress agent and not the constitutional head of the State."
''There was no breakdown of the constitutional machinery and the law and order was normal in the State. Under these circumstances, the Governor’s recommendation to the Centre to impose the President’s Rule was unethical and undemocratic," he alleged.
Dr Acharya, who did not join the delegation for the Delhi parade of MLAs, said Bhardwaj has been acting in vengeance to remove the Government headed by Yeddyurappa since he came to the Raj Bhavan. There was no genuine or valid reason for dismissing the democratically elected government. The Government has comfortable majority in the Assembly, he said dubbing the recommendation for imposition of President’s Rule as “politically ill-motivated" and “against the spirit of the Constitution."
''Bhardwaj has been not discharging duties bestowed on him by the Constitution. He had no courtesy to inform the government about the Cabinet’s resolution to convene a session of the State legislature," Dr Acharya alleged and demanded his immediate recall by the Centre.