BENGALURU: The opposition Congress and the ruling BJP sparred over Governor Vajubhai Vala holding an all-party meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss the Covid situation.Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar and JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy among others attended the virtual meeting called by the governor.
Taking a dig at the state government, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Shivakumar said that this was for the first time that a governor had called such a meeting. This is an indication that governor’s rule will be imposed in the state in the coming days, he added.
“Karnataka is not a Union territory like Puducherry or Delhi. The governor could have got information (on Covid situation) from the state government and we do not know under what provision of law, the meeting of opposition leaders and others was convened. We have an elected government in the state,” Shivakumar said.
The Congress leader slammed the state government for its failure to handle the situation. “The governor holding the meeting indicates that the Centre has intervened to tackle the situation,” he said. The government has to explain all facts to the people and give them some confidence in this hour of crisis. He also said that the government must order a death audit to find out the reasons for the deaths of Covid patients.
Taking to social media, the state Congress unit stated that the governor holding such a meeting indicates the government’s inability to handle the situation and face the opposition parties.
Home and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Basavaraj Bommai hit back at the Congress and asked Shivakumar not to politicise the pandemic. It is not correct to equate the governor’s meeting with governor’s rule in the state. The Prime Minister had spoken to the governors and such meetings were held in many states, including Maharashtra and Rajasthan, he said.