BJP legislators hold protest demo outside Raj Bhavan; arrested

BJP MLAs and MLCs held a legislative party meeting at a hotel and then staged a march to the Raj Bhavan, a stone's throw away. The BJP legislators, who were shouting slogans against Governor H R Bhardwaj, were stopped by policemen who had put up barricades outside Raj Bhavan.

They carried placards some of which read: "Governor go back", "Congress agent Bhardwaj down, down", "Down with politicisation of Raj Bhavan" and "Call back governor".
After raising anti-Governor slogans, the legislators who came in good strength, got into the police vans and courted arrest. The protest passed off peacefully.

The Governor had left the Raj Bhavan minutes before the demonstration to attend a function. The legislative party meeting was attended, among others, by senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu and Yeddyurappa.

The protest came a day after a BJP delegation led by senior leader L K Advani met President Pratibha Patil to complain about the "unconstitutional conduct" of the Governor and sought his recall. BJP has complained about the "tirade" against the state government by Bhardwaj since the day he took charge and said his removal was a "must to restore Constitutional order".

The move to meet Patil came in the wake of heightened tension between Bhardwaj and the Chief Minister after the Governor sanctioned prosecution of Yeddyurappa.

Terming Bhardwaj's appointment as a step to "end democracy" in the country, the BJP said the "mindset and conduct" of the governor was motivated by "extraneous and collateral purposes, less as a Constitutional functionary and more as a Congress activist."