In a bid to put the governor on the mat, Yeddyurappa served two ultimatums on Bhardwaj, setting the first deadline of 5 pm for receiving the consent from Raj Bhavan so that the Assembly session could be convened and following it up with a second deadline of 10 pm Thursday night.
With no response coming from the Centre, Yeddyurappa’s intensified agitation for demanding Bhardwaj’s removal appeared imminent. The Union Cabinet on Thursday did not take up the governor’s special report recommending President’s rule in Karnataka.
Informed sources told Deccan Herald that a senior Union Cabinet minister sought a discussion on Bhardwaj’s report, but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shot it down, saying a deliberation over it should be taken up at another forum.
It is understood that senior Congress ministers in the Cabinet have advised Singh that lack of numbers in the Rajya Sabha could be an impediment to push through Bhardwaj’s recommendation for President’s rule in Karnataka.
The Congress has 70 members in the Rajya Sabha and would require 50 more to have its approval for imposing President’s rule passed in the Upper House. Approval of both the Houses is mandatory invoking Article 356 of the Constitution.
The chief minister’s aggressive stand came a day after some public display of exchange of pleasantries between him and the governor. On Wednesday, a ministerial delegation led by Yeddyurappa met Bhardwaj at Raj Bhavan and impressed upon him the urgency to summon the extended budget session of the Assembly for 10 days beginning June 2.
While not making any commitment to give consent, Bhardwaj said that he would wait for the Centre’s response to his special report.
Speaking to reporters in Bangalore on Thursday, Yeddyurappa warned he would embark on a state-wide tour in a jeep and address roadside rallies to garner public opinion. “If I do not receive any news from Raj Bhavan by evening, I will chalk out my programme and visit every nook and corner of the State from Friday,” thundered Yeddyurappa.
Lashing out at the Congress and the JD(S) for staging demonstrations demanding the ouster of his government, Yeddyurappa said: “Neither do they have the capacity to win elections nor do they want to honour the people’s verdict. Parameshwar and Deve Gowda are trying to topple a duly elected government. I will expose them tomorrow,” the chief minister said.
Before setting out to carry out his threat, Yeddyurappa took a special flight from Bangalore to Vaishnodevi in Jammu to seek divine blessings, a practice which he seems to be undertaking everytime he has been faced with threat to his chair.
The state BJP’s agitation beginning Friday will kick off at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Bangalore at 11 am with Yeddyurappa leading the dharna. Asked why the BJP was in such a hurry to receive a response from the governor, a state minister said since the Congress was staging protests against the government, it was “but natural” for the ruling party to keep up the heat on the Centre.
Preferring anonymity, the minister said there was no reason or rule that says the governor must wait for a response from the Centre. In this context, BJP leader Dhananjay Kumar said: ““There is no need for the Centre to communicate any message to the Governor. It has been five days since the governor sent his report. It is deemed understood that the Centre has put the report in cold storage.”
But state Congress leaders argued that there were no emergency bills pending that the Assembly session should be summoned now.
