BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Venkaiah Naidu after submitting a memorandum to the Prime Minister in New Delhi on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

New Delhi, October 13
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yedyurappa may have softened his tone and tenor against Governor HR Bhardwaj for allowing him a second chance within 48 hours to prove his majority in the Vidhan Sabha, but his party, the BJP, remained unrelenting in seeking Bhardwaj’s ouster from Bangalore.

BJP parliamentary party chairman LK Advani led a high-powered delegation to Prime Minster Manmohan Singh today and presented him a memorandum accusing Bhardwaj of blatant partisanship and seeking his recall.

Advani was accompanied by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her counterpart in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and party’s former president M Venkaiah Naidu.

The BJP delegation charged the Governor with “being partisan and converting the Raj Bhawan into an epicentre of horse-trading”.

The memorandum stated, “We seek the recall of Karnataka Governor HR Bhardwaj. The developments of the last few weeks have clearly demonstrated that notwithstanding his appointment to a constitutional office of Governor, Bhardwaj has utterly failed to detach himself from his political past.”

Jaitley told newsmen while leaving 7, Race Course Road, “Extra-constitutionalism was his (Governor’s) firm belief and the use of extra constitutionalism to demonstrate loyalty was always his political strategy,” adding “remaining politically impartial is not in his nature.”

Jaitley also questioned the decision to seek a second vote of confidence and added, “Though the first trust vote was “conclusive”, we agreed to a second trust vote as suggested by the Governor because we wanted to “avoid a constitutional confrontation rather than precipitate one.”

Bangalore, October 13
The high court today turned down the five disqualified Independent MLAs’ plea to allow them to vote in tomorrow’s trust vote.

The court also rejected the Independent MLAs’ plea that their votes be kept in a sealed envelope to be counted after the court delivered its verdict on the issue.

The court had yesterday reserved its order on the petitions filed by 11 rebel BJP legislators disqualified by the Speaker on the eve of trust vote on October 11. The court adjourned the petitions to October 18.

Had the high court stayed the disqualification of the Independent MLAs, it would have put the ruling party in a tricky situation as the number of BJP MLAs and the number of MLAs opposing the government would have been the same - 106 on each side.

A desperate BJP today roped in Varthur Prakash, an Independent MLA, who announced his support for the government. Prakash was not among the MLAs who signed the letter withdrawing support to the Chief Minister and the only MLA who had escaped disqualification by the Speaker.

The court today also ordered that the result of the trust vote in the Assembly tomorrow would be subject to its decision on the writ petitions filed by 16 disqualified MLAs.

New Delhi, October 13
On the day when the BJP led a delegation to the Prime Minister demanding recall of Karnataka Governor HR Bhardwaj, the Congress today virtually left him to fend for himself, maintaining the matter was between the Governor and the Centre.

Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said: “As far as the role of the Governor is concerned, the party has nothing to do with it. This issue is between the Governor and the Home Ministry, i.e. the Centre.”

Dwivedi also downplayed the state Congress’s attack on the Governor for allowing a second trust vote to the Karnataka Chief Minister.

Asked about BJP’s demand for the recall of the Governor, Dwivedi said: “The BJP is in opposition, hence it was their right to make any demand.”

Meanwhile, a one-day session of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) will be held in Delhi on November 2. The one-day session would deal with the schedule for election to the party’s working committee.