Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said on Thursday that he would complete his full term in office , as he created history by gaining “trust vote” in the Assembly twice within three days. “I am cent per cent sure that I will complete my remaining term in office.”
Asked whether he would take the 11 BJP rebel MLAs back, under the policy of ‘forget and forgive,' and accept again the support of five Independents if they apologised, he said: “There is no question of accepting them again.” The question did not arise at all as they were no more MLAs since they had been disqualified by the Speaker, and the issue was pending in the Karnataka High Court. “There is no question of ‘forget and forgive' till the court delivers its judgment,” he told The Hindu on the phone from Bangalore after winning the trust vote.
The Chief Minister did not want to discuss any further the role played by the Opposition parties in the recent controversy. He urged them to offer suggestions for the State's progress.
ADVERTISEMENT
In Delhi, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Prathap Rudy reiterated the party's demand for the recall of Governor H.R. Bhardwaj, alleging that he was functioning like an “agent of Congress.” He said the voting pattern (106-100) in the Assembly proved that even if the High Court allowed five “disqualified” Independents to vote, the party would have enjoyed majority. “We have come back again, and this is indeed a historic moment for Karnataka, and for the BJP. The floor test conclusively proves the BJP's stand that it has a majority,” he said.
“The victory of the BJP does not exonerate Mr. Bhardwaj of his actions in the past. He is still under the scanner for his unconstitutional acts. In order to have stability in Karnataka, it is important that the Centre recall or sack the Governor today itself,” Mr. Rudy said.
The BJP also criticised the Congress for maintaining that the Yeddyurappa government did not command a majority. “After the BJP got a majority in the trust vote on Monday and Thursday, the Congress has stopped talking about majority, and instead started speaking about morality. This shows that we have won,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari said the trust vote's outcome was subject to the verdict of the Karnataka High Court on the plea of the Independents. The “trust vote” was “vitiated and subverted.”
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the victory of the Yeddyurappa government in the trust vote would “not condone the Speaker's patently illegal action, as also the opportunism of the BJP government.”
He charged the BJP with practising the “worst form of political opportunism.” The party itself had sown the seeds of instability by earlier luring Independents and other MLAs to gain majority.