Governor returned 15 Bills as sought by BJP MLAs, says Dy CM Shivakumar

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday sought to give a political spin to Governor Thawarchand Gehlot returning some bills, that were passed by the Legislature, to the government, without his assent.

Shivakumar, who is also the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) accused the governor of acting at the behest of the BJP and coming in the way of the law-making process.

“If the Governor asks for clarifications, we can give. There is nothing wrong with it. But if the Governor goes on listening to the BJP, why should there be governments in a democratic set-up,” he told the media. He added he would pray to God to give a good sense to the Governor.


The Governor was acting at the best of the BJP MLAs. He would discuss this with the party leadership in Delhi, he added.

Sources said the Governor has returned 11 bills to the government without his assent since January, and these included the six bills sent to the Raj Bhavan in August. The BJP had complained to the Governor against some of these bills, following which the Governor sought clarifications. He also is said to have conveyed his displeasure on a bill that sought to remove difficulties in the appointment of political secretaries to the CM.

Shivakumar’s strong outbursts against the Governor are a pointer to the escalating tensions between the Raj Bhavan and Vidhana Soudha ever since Gehlot permitted sanction of prosecution of chief minister Siddaramaiah in a case of allotment of 14 plots in Mysuru to his wife Parvathi.

The KPCC president said he was aware of the efforts to topple the government, but they would not work, and the Congress was not keeping quiet, but doing its part.