CHENNAI: Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu on Thursday strongly criticised Karnataka Governor Vajbhai Vala for allowing BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa to be sworn as Chief Minister of the State and sought President Ram Nath Kovind’s intervention to set things right. “The Karnataka Governor’s hasty invitation to the BJP to form government despite the majority of MLAs forming a post-poll alliance of INC-JD(S)-BSP is arbitrary and unconstitutional.
Such a move will only serve to enable horse-trading and destroy our democratic foundations,” DMK working president MK Stalin said in his tweet.
Stating that people of Tamil Nadu were familiar with the BJP’s efforts to protect the AIADMK government, which also incidentally did not enjoy the majority support in the Assembly, Stalin said “Constitutional institutions and principles are under threat from these actions.”
Later, talking to mediapersons, Stalin said what happened in Karnataka was a sheer murder of democracy and the BJP-led Centre was known for misusing the Governors’ office for undemocratic activities. He also condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for such activities.
VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan, while hailing the Supreme Court for hearing the petition relating to the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa in the wee hours on Thursday, expressed concern that the court had failed to check an unfortunate drama being enacted in Karnataka. He expressed apprehension that a similar situation would prevail during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections too. The VCK leader urged the leaders of the Congress and Janata Dal (S) to protect their MLAs from falling for the evil designs of the BJP.