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Thakur sends report to President

Bangalore and New Delhi Bureaus

Advani, Rajnath meet Manmohan, want government formed in Karnataka

— PHOTO: V. SUDERSHAN

rallying for power: Bharatiya Janata Party leaders (from left) K. Ananth Kumar, B.S. Yeddyurappa, Venkaiah Naidu, Sadananda Gowda and others outside Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence in New Delhi after meeting him in connection with the formation of a government in Karnataka.

BANGALORE/New Delhi: Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur on Wednesday sent a report to President Pratibha Patil on the political developments in the State. He also sent copies to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

Sources in the Raj Bhavan told The Hindu that envelopes, marked “confidential,” were sent through a Raj Bhavan staffer, who left by an afternoon flight to Delhi.

The report was despatched much before Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj called on Mr. Thakur.

Earlier, the Congress general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, Prithiviraj Chavan, called on the Governor and sought the immediate dissolution of the Assembly.

Meanwhile, a delegation of BJP leaders, including president Rajnath Singh, L.K. Advani and M. Venkaiah Naidu, met Dr. Singh in New Delhi to ask for “immediate steps to ensure government formation.”

The leaders submitted a one-page memorandum to Dr. Singh and pointed out that on October 27 itself it became clear that a government to be led by BJP Legislature Party leader B.S. Yeddyurappa would have a clear majority. “We would have ordinarily thought that the Governor would recommend revocation of President’s Rule to the Centre but this has not happened so far.”

“The right thing to do”

That the Assembly, with has its tenure till May 2009, was kept under suspended animation indicated a possibility of formation of a popular government. Now that it had become possible to install a government with majority support, it was the only right thing to do, the party said.

The memorandum said the Supreme Court, in the Bihar Assembly dissolution case, made it clear that the shifting stands of political parties could not be a ground for dissolution of a duly elected House.

It is learnt that Mr. Rajnath Singh also referred to the Jharkhand case, where a government led by an Independent MLA was formed after the BJP-led government collapsed.

As the Congress has been demanding the dissolution of the Karnataka Assembly, the BJP feared that the Centre (through the Governor) might not take the necessary steps for the formation of a “popular government.” Coming out of the meeting, Mr. Naidu said Dr. Singh assured the delegation that the Centre would be guided by the spirit of the Constitution. He did not give any time frame, although the BJP wanted “immediate” action.

On Tuesday, the party gave the Governor a 24-hour deadline for inviting Mr. Yeddyurappa to lead the government.

BJP rally in Bangalore

In Bangalore, the BJP organised a rally to pressure Mr. Thakur to invite the BJP-JD(S) combine to form a government. At the rally, Ms. Swaraj declared that the BJP would parade the 129 MLAs supporting it (in a House of 224 legislators) before the President in New Delhi to prove its majority.

Some JD(S) leaders, including State president Merajuddin Patel and spokesperson Y.S.V. Datta, were present at the rally.

Ms. Swaraj asked Mr. Thakur to choose to be remembered either as a protector or destroyer of democratic norms. “It is a challenge for you. Do you want to be a part of the dark history, similar to that of the Emergency days, or do you want to write your name in golden letters in history as a person who stood for democratic values?”

Charging the Congress with showing disrespect to democratic values, she said Karnataka was the fourth State to face President’s Rule after the Congress-led UPA government was formed at the Centre. “If the Congress had staked claim to form a government, they would have said it was within democratic norms. But when it comes to the BJP-JD(S), they say it is horse-trading,” she said.

She told the Congress, “Do not preach to us. We have not come to listen to your advice, but to seek our right.”

Genesis of crisis

The Karnataka crisis followed the refusal of the JD(S) to keep its side of the bargain and allow the BJP to lead the government for the next 20 months after H.D. Kumaraswamy’s turn ended on October 3. The BJP withdrew support and Mr. Kumaraswamy resigned, paving the way for the imposition of President’s Rule as no party was in a position to claim majority support. At that time, the BJP said it wanted a fresh election as did the JD(S). The Congress too felt that a new mandate by the people would be in the best interests of the State.

However, when a section of the JD(S) tried to form a government with Congress support, another rushed to the BJP and agreed to honour the earlier commitment to allow it to lead the government till May 2009.

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