By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday accused Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj of “encouraging the political opposition in Karnataka to destabilise the democratically elected Government” and sought his recall.
In its memorandum to President Pratibha Patil signed by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, the party said that since taking charge, Bhardwaj had converted the Raj Bhavan “into a political weapon for harassing the state government”.
The memorandum was given by a party delegation that included party chief Nitin Gadkari, Yeddyurappa and 114 party MLAs.
“He (Bhardwaj) has been acting in a partisan manner. He has made several public statements criticising the functioning of the government, chief minister and his cabinet colleagues.
“The governor has stated publicly that he is first and foremost a Congressman. This itself shows that he has entered the office as an active politician and not as a neutral constitutional authority,” the memorandum said.
“It is clear that the conduct of governor of Karnataka amounts to indulging in active politics, misusing the Raj Bhavan and encouraging the political opposition in Karnataka to destabilise the democratically elected government. This is highly objectionable behaviour in the democratic framework,” the memorandum added.
It said the Supreme Court had set aside orders of the speaker May 13 and 10 of the 11 BJP MLAs had given a letter to the governor expressing unconditional support to the BJP government.
“With the support of these 10 rebel MLAs, the strength of the BJP in the Karnataka Legislature is 120 out of a total of 223,” the memorandum said and added that the governor has not given approval to the cabinet’s recommendation to call session of assembly.