On a day replete with much political hob-nobbing, embattled Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa accepted state governor H.R. Bhardwaj’s offer to face a second trust vote on October 14. At the same time, an unhappy BJP sought to rally behind its CM, with senior BJP leader L.K. Advani seeking an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the allegedly “partisan” role played by the governor in the Karnataka developments.

Mr Yeddyurappa himself sounded confident about winning the trust vote slated for Thursday. He told reporters here on Tuesday soon after his party’s core group had met for a second time this evening at Mr Advani’s residence. “I am going to seek a vote of confidence on the 14th at 11 am. I am confident of winning the vote of confidence on the 14th.”
Party sources disclosed that of the 105 MLAs supporting the BJP, 100 attended the core group meeting held on Tuesday evening. With an effective strength of 208 now in the state Assembly, the BJP on Tuesday claimed that it still has the required number of legislators to prove its the majority.
As for the meeting Mr Advani is seeking with the PM, party sources said that the BJP will demand the recall of Mr Bhardwaj, accusing him of “acting as a Congress agent”. According to unconfirmed reports , the BJP is also learnt to be miffed with the Centre as far as the current crisis is concerned. For, it is wondering why the Congress appointed Karnataka Governor is behaving in this manner when the BJP has usually stood by the Congress-led UPA on several major issues including the Civil nuclear liability bill, which was finally passed during Parliament’s monsoon session.
Mr Bhardwaj had sent a report to the Centre on Monday reportedly recommending imposition of President’s rule in the state. He had also dubbed Monday’s trust vote as “farcical”.
In New Delhi, the BJP’s core group met twice to discuss the Karnataka crisis. Both the meetings were attended by party chief Nitin Gadkari, Mr Yeddyurappa, the party’s Karnataka unit chief K.S. Eshwarappa and state law minister Suresh Kumar.
The core group met a second time in the evening after the Karnataka high court adjourned the hearing on petitions filed by 16 state MLAs disqualified by the Speaker on Monday. The Yeddyurappa-led government won the trust vote yesterday by voice vote which was challenged by the Opposition.
Earlier in the day on Tuesday, the BJP had questioned the motive behind the Karnataka governor’s letter to Mr Yeddyurappa asking him to prove his majority again in the Assembly. However, it had deferred a decision on the issue saying it would take a call after discussing it with party MLAs.
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley raised objections to the governor’s letter questioning the “verdict” of the Assembly during the trust vote. He also questioned the governor’s authority to do so. Mr Jaitley alleged that the Karnataka Raj Bhavan is being used for “political purposes and horse-trading”. He maintained that “possible defectors” were virtually operating from the Governor’s House.
When the crisis had erupted last week, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj had criticised Mr Bhardwaj and demanded that the recall him, a demand which was reiterated by Mr Jaitley on Tuesday.