By IANS
Bangalore : An anxious Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to approach President Pratibha Patil if Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur does not invite its leader B.S. Yediyurappa to form the government Tuesday.
The BJP and its estranged partner Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) had Monday presented 129 legislators to Thakur to establish their hold over the 225-member assembly. Just hours later, the governor allotted work to his three advisors, appointed to assist him in governing the state now under president’s rule.
Concerned over such actions, the BJP decided it would take its case directly to the president Wednesday if the invite did not come Tuesday.
The party is also considering a statewide agitation if Thakur does not respond, state BJP chief D.V. Sadananda Gowda told a party meeting.
Yeddiyurappa, who was elected leader of the BJP-JD-S combine at a joint meeting of the two parties’ legislators, Tuesday met JD-S president H.D. Deve Gowda to persuade him to go with the BJP to meet Patil in New Delhi.
The BJP is also worried that Gowda has not sent any fresh letter to Thakur, requesting him to ignore the earlier missive demanding immediate dissolution of the assembly following the collapse of the JD-S-BJP coalition ministry.
The coalition had split – only to come together now — when JD-S’ chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy refused to give up the post for the BJP after 20 months according to the agreement between the two parties.
The governor had given enough indications Sunday itself that he is no hurry to invite the combine to form the government.
He held a meeting with the three advisors and senior officials of the state, appointed a new advocate general and directed holding of ‘janata darshans’ (meetings with the public) at the district level.
On Monday, he held a janata darshan despite a hectic schedule — inaugurating the annual Bangalore IT show and holding talks with various political leaders calling on him over government formation.
Thakur also said his next ‘janata darshan’ would be on Friday. He had announced soon after the state came under president’s rule on Oct 9 that he would the public meetings on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.