Centre using Governors to topple Opposition govt's in state: Ghulam Nabi Azad

Bengaluru, July 09: Senior Congress leaders met in Bengaluru on Tuesday to review the political scenario in the state as the fate of state government is uncertain after 11 legislators have resigned citing displeasure with the party and the coalition.

"The entire country is anguished at the way the President at the national level and Governor at the state level are conducting themselves. The way democracy is being finished in this country," Gulam Nabi Azad said.

Azad said the phenomenon witnessed in Karnataka is "not new", and has been witnessed in Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and other states where the BJP has allegedly "engineered" defections to turnover the government run by Opposition parties.

"State after state, Opposition governments are being toppled and government of India is using Governors for this. From Arunachal Pradesh to Karnataka, Governors side with defectors and help them in coming out of Congress. We appeal to the nation to rise to the occasion to save this democracy," he said.

In a major relief to the Congress-JD(S) coalition, the state Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar has termed eight of the resignations of the rebel MLAs as "illegal" and has asked legislators to present their cases before him. Kumar has written to the Governor stating his position.