Yediyurappa may get invite to form govt soon
With BJP-JD(S) demonstrating required numbers to form the next government in Karnataka, the Centre appears to have made up its mind to revoke President’s rule in the state.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: With BJP-JD(S) demonstrating required numbers to form the next government in Karnataka, the Centre appears to have made up its mind to revoke President’s rule in the state.
The Congress core committee, which met late this evening, was of the view that the Centre should not flex its muscles. The Cabinet Commitee on Political Affairs is scheduled to meet on Thursday to recommend to the President the revocation of Central rule. Mr BS Yediyurappa is expected to get an invite to form the new government in the next 48 hours.
Continuing with its efforts to pile up pressure on the Manmohan Singh government, a high-level BJP delegation led by Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L K Advani met the prime minister here earlier in the day. The BJP delegation, in its meeting with the prime minister pressed for an early resolution of the political and constitutional logjam in Karnataka, arguing that the delay in lifting the Presidential proclamation putting the state assembly under the spell of suspended animation and inviting Mr Yediyurappa to form the next government was, indeed, intriguing and disturbing.
"This disturbance is fortified by the fact that the AICC spokesperson has already demanded the dissolution of the state assembly imposition of President’s rule, bypassing the support of the majority. Such an action would be clearly unconstitutional," a memorandum submitted by the BJP contingent to the prime minister during the course of the meeting said.
Tracing the sequence of events, former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu told the prime minister that the state presidents of the BJP and the JD(S), accompanied by the legislative party leaders, had met governor Rameshwar Thakur on October 27 to inform him of their decision to back Mr Yediyurappa for the chief minister’s post.
ADVERTISEMENT
Two days later, as many as 129 MLAs, which is way above the half-way mark of 112 in the state assembly, marched to the Raj Bhawan and submitted a signed memorandum, alongwith affidavits signed by each legislator, pledging their support to Mr Yediyurappa’s bid to occupy the chief minister’s post."Everything is crystal clear. Today is the fifth day since the alliance declared its support to Mr Yediyurappa’s candidature. We wonder why is the governor procrastinating on the issue," argued Mr Naidu.
The delegation also cited the apex court judgement on the Manmohan Singh government’s decision to recommend the dissolution of the Bihar assembly in may, 2005, and contended that the shifting stands of political parties cannot be a ground for the dissolution of an assembly.
In his intervention, Mr Advani warned the prime minister against taking recourse to a presidential reference to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution, as was being demanded by a section of Congressmen. To this, the prime minister replied that the government would go strictly by the gubernatorial advice.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mr Advani disagreed with this contention, and said that the ball was in the Centre’s court as the assembly had been placed under a state of suspended animation, and it was the union government which had to take a call on the issue.BJP president Rajnath Singh informed the prime minister that they had been constrained to seek the Centre’s intervention as there were fears that there would a repeat of the fiasco in Jharkhand where the governor had installed a minority government despite the fact the Arun Munda government had proved its majority on the floor of the assembly.
The prime minister, in his reply, observed that the government would go strictly by the Constitution. He also wanted the BJP to give some more time to the governor. BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar intervened at this stage to say that the governor had already been given sufficient time. He also told the prime minister that the governor, in his interaction with the leaders of the BJP and the JD(S), had said that he was satisfied with the numbers.
The BJP delegation later told newspersons that it was ``satisfied’’ with the discussions held with the prime minister. The governor is likely to send its report to the Centre by Thursday, and the saffron leaders expect a final decision on the issue by Friday. Fears of inviting the Supreme Court’s rap yet again, and the spectre of the winter session of Parliament being hijacked by the Karnataka logjam, if it remains unresolved till then, are likely to determine the Centre’s reflexes.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
