The BJP claimed on Wednesday that though the first trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly was "conclusive", the party agreed to a second trust vote, as suggested by the state's governor, because it wanted to "avoid a constitutional confrontation rather than precipitate one".
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley told reporters after a BJP delegation met the PM to demand the recall of Karnataka governor H.R. Bhar-dwaj that "extra-constitutionalism was his (the governor's) firm belief and the use of extra-constitutionalism to demonstrate loyalty was always his political strategy". He added: "Rem-aining politically impartial is not in his nature."
The BJP described as "perverse and motivated" the governor's earlier recommendation to the Centre for imposition of President's Rule "literally within minutes" after the trust vote in the Assembly. "His public utterances, while accusing the state government and the BJP of baseless charges, extended to calling his gesture (asking for a second trust vote) an act of charity towards the chief minister. The decorum and the restraint required in a constitutional authority was completely missing," the BJP memorandum said.
Alleging that Mr Bhardwaj was acting with a "pre-determined mind" to destabilise the BJP government in Karnataka, Mr Jaitley said, "Within 24 hours of recommending President's Rule he did a volte-face and asked the chief minister to seek a fresh vote of confidence on October 14, 2010, calling the earlier vote a farce."