By IANS
New Delhi : The lower house of Indian Parliament, the Lok Sabha Monday approved the imposition of the president’s rule in Karnataka.
The president’s rule was imposed Nov 20 after Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa submitted his resignation to Governor Rameshwar Thakur within a week of being sworn-in, without facing the vote of confidence in the state assembly.
During the debate, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ananth Kumar attacked the Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) for what he termed as a “betrayal” by the party.
Former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, however, stood his ground and recalled how on the day of swearing in the BJP leaders were “celebrating that the gates to south India have opened. I am proud that I have closed those gates”.
Supporting the president’s rule in the state, the JD-S chief said: “From day one, I had supported president’s rule and dissolution of the house (Karnataka assembly). I had written to the prime minister to dissolve the assembly.”
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader V. Radhakrishnan criticised the central government for not dissolving the assembly when the president’s rule was imposed for the first time Oct 9.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil cited the Supreme Court judgment to plead that the centre could not dissolve the house till parliament endorsed the president’s rule.