Congress in Karnataka today appealed to Governor H R Bhardwaj to dismiss the BJP government as it has been reduced to a "minority".

A KPCC delegation headed by its President G Parameshwara and Opposition leader in the state assembly Siddaramaiah submitted a memorandum to the Governor urging him to recommend for dismissal of the Jagadish Shettar-led Ministry invoking Article 356 of the Constitution.

"There is a constitutional crisis in Karnataka in the wake of BJP MLAs supporting BSR Congress floated by former minister B Sreeramulu and Karnataka Janata Party led by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa," Parameshwara told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan.

The delegation also appealed to the Governor not to give assent to the Cow Slaughter ban bill and also the Private Universities bill, he said.

Siddaramaiah said the Shettar government has no moral right to continue in office as it has lost majority. Fourteen MLAs have been openly supporting Yeddyurappa's party and six BJP legislators are with BSR Congress, he said.

The Congress leader defended his party's decision of not moving a no-confidence motion against the government, saying "unless we get the support of JDS and BJP rebels, such a motion will not succeed. Considering all these issues, we did not move the motion in the just concluded assembly session".

He said the Governor told the delegation that he would look into legal and constitutional aspects.