Karnataka: BJP stages ralllies demanding Governor's recall

Mysore/Raichur, May 21: Hitting the streets, ruling BJP in Karnataka today (May 21) launched its campaign seeking Governor H R Bhardwaj's recall and rejection of his report recommending dismissal of the party government with Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa himself leading the agitation in Raichur.

Addressing the "hatao Governor, Bacchao Karnataka" (remove Governor, save Karnataka) rally in Raichur, Yeddyurappa mounted a blistering attack on Bhardwaj accusing him of trying to rule the state by dismissing the elected government.

"The Governor wanted to rule the state for six months. A few months ago, he suggested to me to dissolve the Assembly so that he will get six months to rule. Bhardwaj also told me that after the elections, BJP may come back to power," he told the gathering stepping up his attack on Bhardwaj.

Yeddyurappa, who would lead the anti-governor rallies in four more districts, asserted that the Governor would not succeed in his "attempts to dislodge" the BJP Government which enjoyed "clear majority".

At Mysore, state unit BJP President K S Eswarappa led the rally and urged President Pratibha Patil to recall Bhardwaj immediately. He asked the Centre to reject the Governor's report recommending dismssal of the Yeddyurappa Government.

The BJP activists holding placards chanted slogans like "hatao governor, save Karnataka".

Eswarappa charged Bhardwaj with attempting to dislodge the elected Government at the behest of the Congress and JDS despite it enjoying majority.

He also flayed the Governor for refusing nod for convening the legislature session from June 2 as sought by the Government for passage of full budget to implement programmes outlined in the 2011-12 budget.

Setting a five-day deadline for Bhardwaj's recall, the BJP has announced rallies against him in Mangalore, Tumkur, Kolar, Bangalkot, Chitradurga, Bellary, Koppal, Gulbarga and Bidar till May 25.

While Yeddyurappa will lead the rally in four more districts apart from Raichur, Eswarappa led team will visit five more districts.

The Governor last week sent a special report recommending dismissal of the Yeddyurappa government in the wake of the Supreme Court quashing the disqualification of 11 rebel BJP and five independent MLAs by the Assembly Speaker ahead of a trust vote sought by the Chief Minister in October last year.

A meeting of the Union Government's Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday deferred a decision on the report till tomorrow, continuing the suspense over the fate of the BJP Government.

PTI