Criticising the second trust vote won by the B.S. Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka as “vitiated” and “subverted,” the Congress on Thursday said no party could run a stable government with such a majority.
By rejecting Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah’s request to wait for the high court decision on disqualification of 16 MLAs before seeking the trust vote, AICC spokesperson Manish Tewari said the whole exercise in Bengaluru was “a vitiated and a subverted” one.
“The intent of BJP from day one was to convert a minority government into a majority government and by using money and muscle power, BJP has been able to prove its majority in this vitiated vote of confidence,” Mr Tiwari said.
Responding to a volley of queries on the role of Karnataka governor H.R. Bhardwaj in the entire episode, he said the constitutional or any other crisis created in Karnataka is the direct result of internal politics of BJP and the patronage the state government extended to illegal mining and other such activities during its tenure.
Referring to the petition before the Karnataka high court regarding the disqualification of MLAs, Mr Manish Tiwari said, “Whatever be the result of the vote of confidence, it is subject to the final decision of the court.”
On the governor’ decision to permit a second vote of confidence, Mr Tewari said, “What else could he do. There was responsibility on him and he tried to discharge it.”
Mr Bhardwaj only responded to a situation created after the “illegal” disqualification of 16 MLAs in the state Assembly, the Congress leader added.
Meanwhile, law minister M. Veerappa Moily, who is also a former chief minister of Karnataka, was of the view that under circumstances “no party can run a stable government” in the state with such a majority.
Claiming that the victory of the BJP in the trust vote was only transitory in nature, Mr Moily said, “Today’s exercise was just an improvement over the previous attempt to win the trust vote.”
He also accused the Yeddyurappa government of playing a fraud on the Assembly during the first vote of confidence on Monday.
The law minister, however, admitted that the Opposition was not in a position to gather support to give a stable government to the state. “We need to wait for the high court ruling in the matter as much would depend on the verdict,” he added.