Bangalore: Upping the ante, BJP on Sunday set a 24-
hour deadline to the UPA government to reject Governor H R
Bhardwaj`s recommendation to impose President`s Rule in
Karnataka or face a nation-wide agitation against it and him.
"If the Centre does not act within the coming 24 hours, the
BJP will be compelled to launch a nation-wide agitation both
against the Central government as well as the Governor,"
senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu told a news conference
here. "We will wait till tomorrow evening".
Triggering a political crisis, Bhardwaj had sent a special
report to the Centre last Sunday recommending President`s rule
and keeping the Assembly in suspended animation, citing
breakdown in constitutional mechanism.
Naidu alleged that in the last six days, the state
government was not allowed to function by the Governor and the
"inordinate delay" by the Centre (in action on his report) was
also affecting the interest of the State and people.
"Any further delay will be a negation of the people`s
mandate...goes against the spirit of federal structure. We
will not tolerate this," he said.
Naidu said the Karnataka BJP has already resorted to
demonstrations which have evoked a "huge response", adding, he
would like to warn the Centre against delaying its action
because of its "indecision, internal differences".
Severely criticising the "repeated misadventures" to oust
the democratically-elected popular government in the State, he
alleged that the Congress-led UPA at the Centre is the real
"Suthradhari" (director) and the Governor only a "Pathradhari"
(actor) in this "shameful drama".
"The script was written by some Congress leaders in Delhi
and executed by Raj Bhavan in Bangalore," Naidu alleged. "The
history sheet of extra constitutionalism by the Governor makes
him unfit to occupy a constitutional office and the BJP
demands that he be recalled immediately."
Accusing the Governor of virtually converting Raj Bhavan
into Congress Bhavan, he said "it (Raj Bhavan) has become an
epicentre of political conspiracies".
"The Governor is virtually acting like an opposition leader
and making all attempts to destablise the democratically
elected government," Naidu said.
PTI
