K'taka CM defends Governor's address

Bangalore, Feb 24 (UNI) Defending Karnataka Governor T N Chaturvedi for going ahead with his address to the joint session of the Legislature despite the opposition walkout, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today asserted that using the floor of the House to announce the policies and programmes of a new government would not amount to ''unconstitutional'' behaviour.

Talking to newspersons here, he informed that his government had consulted the Advocate General and several legal experts on the matter before convening the joint session.

He said the legal experts had opined that there was no legal issue involved in the Governor addressing the joint session for the second time in a year.

Asked to comment on the Opposition's remarks that Mr Chaturvedi was ''an agent of the new set up,'' Mr Kumaraswamy said these parties should use words carefully and with responsibility as the Governor was the custodian of the Constitution.

Concurring with Mr Kumaraswamy's views, Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said the new government had its own areas of priorities and the people should know them ahead of the Budget session.

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