BENGALURU: The tussle between proactive Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot and the Congress government, which has accused him of acting at the insistence of the BJP, may reach the office of President of India.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his cabinet colleagues have hinted at approaching President Droupadi Murmu over what they called a reactive approach of the governor, aimed at putting the state government on the mat, sources said. “We are waiting for the governor’s next moves and if they are unconstitutional, we may be forced to approach the President,” said a cabinet minister.
“The governor is functioning as if Karnataka does not require police stations, Lokayukta or any investigation agency as all can approach him. We are giving serious thought to approaching the President,” said Industries Minister MB Patil on Monday.
The government has already prepared a list of the governor’s actions that are allegedly biased, said sources. The government will highlight the governor issuing sanction to prosecute Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case, but not acting upon pending cases against JDS and BJP leaders, including Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Shashikala Jolle, Murugesh Nirani and Gali Janardhana Reddy.
Before making its next move, the Congress leadership is now waiting for the Karnataka High Court’s verdict on Siddaramaiah’s petition which has questioned the governor’s sanction, sources said.
After BJP petitioned the governor seeking tabling of the Justice HS Kempanna commission report on Arkavathy Layout denotification, it created ripples in political circles with the assumption that Siddaramaiah had denotified BDA land ‘illegally’ during his first term as Chief Minister. He set up the Justice Kempanna Commission in 2014 but did not table the report after it was submitted in 2017.
On the governor’s letter to the government seeking the Justice Kempanna report, Siddaramaiah on Monday hit back, saying why the BJP did not table the report when it was in power.
“BJP leader CT Ravi has written to the governor on this issue. Why did he not take action when he was a minister then,” he asked. Asked if his party will approach the President, he said the issue will be discussed.
“The governor is paying attention to trivial issues. Even on the issue of me not signing some documents in Kannada, he has sought an explanation from the government after an individual’s complaint,” he said.