Karnataka governor H.R. Bhardwaj’s pitch for imposing President’s Rule in the state has found no takers in the Manmohan Singh government.
There appears little likelihood of President Pratibha Patil being swayed by Mr Bhardwaj’s logic that the government of chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa should be
dismissed in the light of the Supreme Court judgment last Friday that the disqualification — before a crucial trust vote — of 11 dissident BJP MLAs and five Indepen-dents by the Speaker last year was unconstitutional and invalid.
Informed sources here said the government was surprised that the governor had moved with such haste after the Supreme Court delivered its judgment on Friday, not waiting even to have the verdict examined by experts.
Those familiar with the issue suggest that the governor’s action may be influenced by a negative personal chemistry in relation to the chief minister, which is likely to have been established by now.
Some suggest that it might be prudent to move the governor to another state. Such a decision can, of course, be taken only with the concurrence of the top Congress leadership.
When in October last year the Karnataka high court upheld the Speaker’s decision to disqualify the 16 MLAs, it noted that the fate of the trust vote (scheduled at the instance of the governor who determined that the government had fallen into a minority after the 16 rebels had withdrawn support) would depend on the legal validity of the Speaker’s action.
The Supreme Court has made it clear that the Speaker’s action was coloured by political motives, but has not commented on the quality of the trust vote.
In the light of political developments since the court ruled on the issue, a fresh trust vote is now widely seen as being redundant. Ten of the 11 dissident MLAs have returned to the ruling party although Mr Yeddyurappa, against whom they had a serious grouse, remains chief minister.
The resultant new numbers place the government outside the danger zone in terms of the House arithmetic. In any case, official sources here note that the place to test Assembly numbers after the Supreme Court ruling is the floor of the House in terms of the Bommai judgment. Dismissing the state government on the recommendation of the governor is just not seen as an option.