K'taka mess distressing, says S M Krishna

Responding to a question on the messy political crisis that gripped Karnataka in the last couple of weeks, Krishna told journalists: “I was not much involved... about the headcount in Bangalore as I was busy with the headcount in New York (regarding India’s election to the United Nations Security Council) on the same day — October 11. It is not fair on my part to comment on the role of the governor.”

“However, as a former governor, chief minister, Speaker and leader of the Opposition, what happened on that day when the State Assembly met, it was a blot on the fair name of Karnataka.”

He added: “Karnataka is projected to the world as a new India that is emerging. The world looks at India through Bangalore. What happened in Bangalore conveyed a message that is not desirable. All kinds of people got into the Assembly hall, it was overcrowded. I’m distressed that thing should have happened, the Speaker should have maintained the decorum of the House. When I was the Speaker, I had made it a rule nobody except the members, Assembly staff, officials and journalists should get into the hall. Assembly hall was overcrowded.”

 The Congress, reacting to the Karnataka crisis, said it had far-reaching implications across states. Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari said: “After 16 MLAs were disqualified illegally, the minority BJP government manufactured majority. This is a shameful incident for the entire country.

“As on today, there is a minority government in Karnataka. If this happens in a state like Karnataka, what will happen in smaller states? It is easier to manufacture majority by minority governments.”

Tiwari alleged that the script for the Karnataka drama was “written in Delhi by a senior leader who is also a senior lawyer and was marketed in Bangalore”.

The Congress on Friday jumped to the support of Governor H R Bhardwaj and said he did what was best expected of a governor and added that he acted according to the situation.

Two days ago, the Congress had distanced itself from the governor and said the issue was between the governor and the Union Home Ministry.

Tiwari said while the 10th Schedule of the Constitution said the independent MLAs should be disqualified the moment they were identified with any political party, it was fine for the BJP till the independents were supporting it. There is also nothing called “associate members” in the Constitution, he added.