BENGALURU: BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa took an indirect dig at the Supreme Court for its ‘unprecedented’ role in reducing the duration granted by the Governor for a trust vote in Karnataka Assembly recently. He was speaking at the BJP State Executive Committee meeting, the first since the May 12 polls, here on Friday.
“Even though there is a provision for the Governor to grant 15 days time to prove majority, it was curtailed by asking us to prove majority in 24 hours, for which I can find no precedence in Indian history,” Yedyurappa said. This prevented the BJP from proving majority, even as some Congress and JD(S) legislators were keen on joining BJP, he said.
The comment was in response to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court, which reduced the duration granted by Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to prove trust vote from 15 days to one day, following a late night hearing. BJP was nine seats short of majority in the 225 member Assembly and Yeddyurappa had hastily sworn-in as CM, confident of winning the trust vote, only to resign two days later.
Unfulfilled promises
Yeddyurappa also trained his guns on the JD(S), accusing it of cheating the people of Karnataka by making promises it could not fulfil. “JD(S) had promised to waive off farmer loans within 24 hours, strengthen Lokayukta, disband ACB and others. However, the promises made in the manifesto remained unfulfilled,” he said.Commenting on the tussle between Congress factions, Yeddyurappa said that the party would watch the developments patiently. Soon after the budget, the party will decide the mode of protest against the state government, he said.
25 seats
With Lok Sabha elections only a few months away, Yeddyurappa has set a target of winning 25 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, thereby ensuring a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
‘Janaadesh ki chori’
AICC president Rahul Gandhi was accused of ‘Janaadesh ki chori’ — robbing people’s mandate — by BJP general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Muralidhar Rao, on Friday. He said by forming a coalition government with the JD(S), BJP was robbed of the mandate given by the people. Criticising the Common Minimum Programme, he said there was nothing common between the manifestos of Congress and JD(S). “JD(S) manifesto was against the Congress government...,” he said. Still, the two parties are chalking out a CMP, he added.
BSY points finger at DKS
BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa made allegations against Minister D K Shivakumar, accusing him of demanding commission from irrigation project contractors to clear bills of completed projects. Yeddyurappa said the minister was already harassing the contractors, less than a month after he took charge of the Department. Responding to the remark, Shivakumar took a jibe at Yeddyurappa, saying that he has never taken bribes in the form of a cheque.
Unholy alliance: Limbavali
The BJP Executive Committee meeting passed a resolution to spurn the state government born out of an ‘unholy alliance’ between the Congress and JD(S). BJP general secretary Aravind Limbavali said the resolution was moved due to the ‘political instability’ in Karnataka, which has prevented the administration from functioning. He said the upcoming budget will be a ‘minority budget’, as it was “only for the benefit of 37 JD(S) MLAs”. Even Congress leader Siddaramaiah is against it and has expressed it by batting for a supplementary budget, he said.