The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately recall Karnataka governor H.R. Bhardwaj, saying he was trying to topple the B.S. Yeddyurappa government.
The BJP's top brass, including L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and M. Venkaiah Naidu, made the demand when they called on the prime minister and submitted a memorandum.
Home minister P. Chidambaram was present during the meeting, party sources said. "(The governor) should be recalled immediately," Jaitley later told reporters. The BJP has taken an aggressive stand against the governor ever since he recommended President's Rule in Karnataka after a vote of confidence in the state assembly ended in bedlam Monday.
The governor later asked the chief minister to take another confidence vote on Thursday — and the BJP has agreed. Jaitley said the BJP had accepted the governor's suggestion "to avoid a constitutional confrontation in the state".
The BJP government in Karnataka has been in the thick of a crisis since 11 of its legislators, along with five independents, rebelled against the leadership of chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.