On the eve of the swearing-in ceremony of veteran BJP leader Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala as Governor of Karnataka on Monday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed displeasure over the Centre not consulting him before the Governor’s appointment. Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, he said, “It has been a tradition that the Centre consults the Chief Minister of the State before appointing the Governor. But I was neither informed nor consulted. I am upset by this.” Asked about the possibility of BJP MLAs approaching the new Governor seeking his prosecution with respect to the denotification of large tracts of land acquired for the formation of Arkavathi Layout, he shot back, “I have not committed any mistake.”
Mr. Siddaramaiah’s remarks attracted the wrath of the Opposition BJP which termed his displeasure over not consulting him over the appointment of the Governor as “very unfortunate and unjustifiable”. Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa maintained that the then UPA government had not consulted the BJP Chief Minister in the State before appointing H.R. Bhardwaj as Governor. “People of the State have not forgotten that Mr. Siddaramaiah who was then leader of the Opposition had backed all actions of Mr. Bhardwaj who was trying to weaken the BJP government,” he alleged. Meanwhile, the oath-taking ceremony of the new Governor has been scheduled at 5 p.m. at the Glass House of the Raj Bhavan.
