Cong seems to be not inclined towards Prez rule in Karnataka

Party leaders, who have been favouring a spell of President's Rule in the state after yesterday's controversial trust vote in the Assembly, have now started singing a different tune.

The leaders speaking on the condition of anonymity are now insisting that the party will not like to be blamed for any toppling game and feel that the BJP government in the state will fall due to "internal dissensions".

A senior leader said that there could also be difficulty in ratifying President's Rule given the fact that UPA does not have majority in the Rajya Sabha and the parties like the Left and DMK have reservations on the use of Article 356.

AICC general secretary B K Hariprasad even went to the extent of ruling out the possibility of the Congress forming any alternative government in alliance with Janta Dal-Secular headed by H D Deve Gowda, which has taken the lead against the BJP government in the state.

"As far as an alliance with JD-S is concerned, no loyal Congressman will accept it. Congressmen will not like to align with any communal or casteist party," Hariprasad said.

Congress in Karnataka is divided in two camps -- those who have started their politics from Congress and others who have joined the party from the erstwhile Janta Parivar including the JD-S.

The latter is reportedly in favour of a tie-up with JD-S to form an alternative government in the state if the BJP government falls there. Party spokesperson Mohan Prakash meanwhile accused the BJP of attacking the Governor unnecessarily to divert attention from the main issues and justified the Governor asking the state government to seek a fresh trust vote.

"BJP is attacking the Governor to divert attention from the main issues -- their weakness, corruption and paucity of numbers. BJP government and its leadership are engaged in totally unconstitutional work and accusing somebody else of doing it. What happened in Karnataka is unprecedented and BJP should be ashamed of it," Prakash said.

Hariprasad also backed the Governor and found nothing wrong in his addressing a press conference in Bangalore today in which Bhardwaj attacked the Karnataka government over corruption. "He is the head of the state and if he sees something going wrong, he has to speak. He is an active Governor," he said when asked whether the action of the Governor was constitutionally correct.

"As far as the Governor asking the Chief Minister to prove his majority for the second time is concerned, he is well within his constitutional rights," Hariprasad added. In the morning, AICC General Secretary in-charge for Karnataka Ghulam Nabi Azad and Law Minister M Veerappa Moily met party President Sonia Gandhi to discuss the Karnataka issue.