Bangalore: Upping the ante following the porn
scandal, opposition Congress and JDS on Thursday demanded imposition
of President's rule in the state.
"We have met Governor HR Bhardwaj and requested him to
recommend to the Central government to dissolve the Assembly
and dismiss the state government under Article 356 for failing
to govern as per Constitutional laws," Opposition Leader in
the Assembly Siddaramaiah told reporters.
He alleged the state government has failed in all sectors
including implementation of various public schemes and
maintaining decorum of the House -- the latest incident being
the one in which three ministers were caught on camera
watching sleazy clippings on cellphone during Assembly
proceedings.
The opposition offensive comes a day after an embarrassed
BJP central leadership gave marching orders to the three
ministers in the wake of all round criticism.
Facing the heat, Karnataka Chief Minister DV Sadanada
Gowda today hit back, accusing the Congress of engaging in
petty politics.
"We need not learn lessons of morality from Congress
leaders. The whole world knows about the scams the Congress
leaders faced. I myself can cite at least 25 such instances
that involved Congress leaders", Gowda told reporters.
Gowda said the three ministers had quit voluntarily and had
even demanded a probe.
He said a House Committee of the assembly has been set up
to enquire into it and Congress should wait for its report.
Congress has ruled the nation for about 60 years and
several scams have "surfaced against its leaders", he said.
The Chief Minister's attack came even as Congress members
staged a dharna in front of the Vidhana Soudha, the state
secretariat, demanding BJP government's resignation and
disqualification of three former ministers from assembly
membership.
Congress legislators headed by Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief
G Parameshwara staged the dharna, shouting slogans against the
BJP government.
Addressing the legislators, Parameshwara and Siddaramaiah
said the BJP government has been facing one scandal after
another ever since it came to power four years ago.
They said there was no need for any house committee to
probe the matter and Speaker KG Bopaiah should disqualify
them from the assembly membership.
Embarrassed by the episode involving Laxman Savadi, CC
Patil and Krishna Palemar, the BJP had yesterday asked them to
step down as ministers after a public and Opposition outcry.
"We are ready to face election," Siddaramaiah said after
after meeting the Governor. Bhardwaj has assured him that
necessary steps would be taken, he said.
Launching a tirade against the Speaker, the Opposition
leader accused him of acting in a partisan way to save the BJP
government by disqualifying 16 MLAs ahead of the no-confidence
motion in 2010 which had ensured survival of the Yeddyurappa
government.
Former minister and JDS leader NC Nanaiah also claimed
that Bopaiah had disqualified the MLAs for extraneous reasons,
especially to save the government.
"The BJP government has forfeited the legal and moral
authority to govern the state," he said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, February 09, 2012, 18:24