Union Cabinet to consider the fate of Karnataka Assembly tomorrow

New Delhi, Nov 19 (UNI) The Union Cabinet will meet at 0800 hrs tomorrow morning to consider reverting Karnataka Assembly back to status of suspended animation following the inability of the BJP led coalition to prove its majority in the 224 member House. The Cabinet members present in Delhi met inconclusively at the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to consider the status of Karnataka Assembly. The two hour long meet could not arrive at a decision because the Cabinet did not have all requisite papers, Law Minister H R Bharadwaj told reporters outside the Prime Minister's residence. Earlier it was believed that the meeting was that of Political Affairs Committee and not a full fledged meet and the meeting has to take place before Dr Singh leaves for his week long tour outside the country.

Mr Bharadwaj avoided an answer if the Cabinet considered the report of Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur but said there had to be some process before a decision could be taken. The Cabinet is not likely to recommend dissolution of the House since it had taken a stand to keep it under suspended animation in tune with the orders of the Supreme Court. The other unlikely possibility is considering the Congress led coalition with the Janata Dal (Secular) of former Prime Minister Mr H D Deve Gowda.

The ministers who attended the meeting included Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister A K Antony, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad.

Earlier in the day Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddiyurappa put in his papers following the directives from his party not to take Confidence Vote in the House after his coalition partner refused to support him in the Assembly after submitting their individual affidavits extending unconditional support.

UNI