Terms Monday's trust vote proceedings in Assembly ‘farce'
Governor H.R. Bhardwaj has charged the Bharatiya Janata Party government, and Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa in particular, with failure in governance and pushing through a motion of confidence he described as “farce.”
Mr. Bhardwaj told journalists here on Tuesday that there was a constitutional crisis in the State and consequently he had written a detailed letter to President Pratibha Patil recommending the proclamation of President's Rule. “The prevailing situation here is a fit case for President's Rule,” he said.
The Governor said he had written to the Chief Minister suggesting that he go through a second floor test to prove that the government enjoyed a majority because the trust vote won by the Chief Minister on Monday was not proper as there was no record of how many people had voted in favour of the trust vote and how many against. Further, “the atmosphere of the House was vitiated by the presence of uniformed policemen and unauthorised people,” he said.
In a no-holds-barred attack against the government, Mr. Bhardwaj referred to the cases of illegal mining, land grabbing and land denotification. “I cannot go to the Assembly and debate on the misdeeds of the government. I am only the head of the State and have to ensure that the Constitution is upheld.”
The Governor, who followed his press conference with a string of interviews to television channels, criticised the government for “indulging in corruption” and not carrying out development work. Half the members of the Council of Ministers were facing inquiries and the State Lokayukta was investigating them. As such the government itself was formed in a corrupt way. “It is for the government to look into aspects of governance and do good for the welfare of the people and the State. It is for the BJP leadership to look into the role and performance of the members of the party,” he said.
Record of proceedings
With reference to the trust vote on Monday, Mr. Bhardwaj in his letter to the Chief Minister said, “We have received a verbatim record of the proceedings of the Assembly held on October 11 between 10.05 a.m. and 10.10 a.m. I find that after the motion was moved, the number of Members of the Legislative Assembly supporting your motion and against it has not been recorded. As a matter of fact, the number of members present and voting, ‘Ayes' and ‘Nos', has not been recorded. The verdict is that the motion is carried by voice vote. In fact, the proceedings were reduced to a farce in the presence of uniformed police and the ruckus in the House.
“You made no serious effort to prove your majority on the floor of the House. In the circumstances, it is incumbent upon you to demonstrate clearly and objectively in the constitutionally ordained forum, the Assembly, that you have the majority in the House. In case you are willing to do so, I give you a fresh opportunity to do so by 11a.m. on October 14.”
Keywords: Karnataka political crisis, mining corruption
