New Delhi, May 24: The Centre on Monday turned down BJP’s demand for Karnataka Governor HR Bhardwaj’s recall saying he had performed his “constitutional duty” and offered him a face-saver by issuing an advisory to the State Government on the points raised in the gubernatorial report. However, Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, who was in Delhi, did not relent in his demand for Bhardwaj’s recall for acting in a “partisan manner”.
Conveying Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs’ (CCPA) decision to reject Bhardwaj’s recommendation to impose President’s Rule in the southern State, Home Minister P Chidambaram said: “We are mindful of the legal position that the (Centre’s) power to impose President’s Rule is not restricted. The facts placed before CCPA did not enable us to reach conclusion that it attracts Article 356.’’
He indicated that the Supreme Court’s judgments putting strict safeguards with regard to dismissal of a State Government also played a role in it.
Bhardwaj had mentioned charges of corruption against the Yeddyurappa Government, resignation of Ministers following corruption, illegal mining, sanction of prosecution against Ministers, complaints lodged by Lokayukta and reports of discriminations and oppression of minorities in his report.
Yeddyurappa said the Centre’s decision clearly exhibits that the Governor has acted hastily and in a partisan manner. “It is high time that the Centre recall the Governor immediately. This was nothing but a political conspiracy of the Congress party. This is an attack on the federal structure of the country and recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State relationships,” he maintained.
Chidambaram, however, denied the Governor had overstepped his brief and asserted that there is no question of recalling Bhardwaj as he had performed his constitutional duty.
——–Agencies