The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Chavan favours dissolution of Assembly

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Thursday, Nov 01, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Chavan favours dissolution of Assembly

Special Correspondent

Says no party is in a position to form a stable government

‘M.P. Prakash met the Congress leaders on his own’
BJP-JD(S) accused of indulging in blackmail and horse-trading

— Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Back with a demand: AICC general secretary Prithviraj Chavan (centre) with the former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh (left) and KPCC president M. Mallikarjun Kharge at a function to mark the 23rd death anniversary of Indira Gandhi, in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Bangalore: Union Minister and general secretary of the All India Congress Committee in-charge of Karnataka affairs Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday demanded that the Legislative Assembly be dissolved to end the political uncertainty and prevent an “unholy and opportunistic alliance” from coming to power in the State.

Speaking to presspersons after attending the 23rd death anniversary of the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee office, here, Mr. Chavan said that no party — the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party or the Janata Dal (Secular) — was in a position to form a stable government and the only alternative was to order for fresh elections.

Denying the charge that Governor Rameshwar Thakur was pressured by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government to keep the Assembly in suspended animation, Mr. Chavan said that Mr. Thakur acted strictly according to the Supreme Court judgment in the S.R. Bommai Case.

No motive should be attached to the decision, because the Congress had not made any attempt to utilise the interregnum to cobble up a majority and come to power, he said.

The Congress leader said that no Congress leader wanted to meet senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader M.P. Prakash in New Delhi and from the day one, his party had been insisting that the Assembly should be dissolved. Mr. Prakash met the Congress leaders on his own, he said. His party had never tried to isolate Mr. Prakash in the Janata Dal (Secular).

Asked whether the Congress had urged the Governor to give it a chance to form the government, he clarified that it contained a specific demand for dismissal of the H.D. Kumaraswamy Government, which had lost majority in the Assembly, if he did not resign on his own. He charged the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition with indulging in blackmail and horse-trading and such an alliance should not be allowed to form the government.

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Earlier, addressing party workers, Mr. Chavan explained the position of the party since the Kumaraswamy Government resigned and called them upon to prepare themselves for facing the elections to the Assembly in right earnest.

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