Have full faith in SC, it won't repeat Karnataka Governor's mistake: Congress

Congress party has expressed full faith in the judiciary and said that it is confident that nothing will go wrong when the SC takes up its petition challenging the developments in Karnataka.

Bengaluru: Ahead of the hearing on its petition challenging Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R Vala's decisions with regards to the Karnataka Assembly elections 2018, Congress party has expressed full faith in the judiciary and said that nothing will go wrong.

Speaking on the issue, senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the party has full faith in the Supreme Court that it will not repeat the Karnataka Governor's mistake.

"We have full faith in the Supreme Court. It will not repeat the same mistake the Governor did," Azad told reporters here.

Responding to reports of Congress MLAs being shifted from Bengaluru over the fear of defection, Azad said that all MLAs were presently in Bengaluru.

He also rebuffed BJP's accusation of forgery and said, "They are the ones who are committing forgery. It is as the saying goes- 'chor machaye shor', the one who commits the offence shouts the loudest and blames others."

With 15 days left for the newly elected Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to prove majority in the state assembly, the Congress-JD(S) alliance alleged that the BJP was resorting to horse-trading to achieve the required number.

On Wednesday, the Karnataka Governor had invited Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) BS Yeddyurappa to form the government and prove majority on the floor of the House in 15 days. 

Following this Congress and JD(S) filed a petition against this decision in top court.

The Congress filed a petition before the Supreme Court to postpone the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa, which in an unprecedented overnight hearing on Thursday, refused to put a stay.

The top court sealed the deal in favour of the BJP, following which Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka. It also asked BSY to produce before it the letters he wrote to the state's Governor claiming support of MLAs for forming the government. 

The matter will be taken up by a top court bench on Friday.

The three-judge wants to vet the contents of the letters - basically to check whether the Governor’s decision to invite Yeddyurappa was an informed one.

The top court bench is also likely to get into the issue of the 15 days time given by the Governor to Yeddyurappa to prove his majority on the floor of the house. The Congress-JD(S) combine has argued that the long window will be misused by BJP to trigger defections from rival parties and engineer a majority in the assembly.

Results of the Karnataka Assembly polls announced on May 15 showed that the BJP had won 104 seats, emerging as the single largest party, while the Congress and JD(S) bagged 78 and 38 seats, respectively.

In a turn of events, the JD(S) and Congress forge a post-poll alliance and got the support of one Independent MLA, taking their collective number to 117.

While the BJP argued that they were the single largest party to be invited first by the Governor, the JD(S) and Congress said that 112 is the majority and Congress-JD(S) combined is at 117. 

(With ANI inputs)