BENGALURU: Legislators belonging to the ruling coalition raised slogans against Governor Vajubhai Vala for his missives to Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, seeking conclusion of the trust vote process by this evening, but also charged him with functioning as an agent of the Bharatiya Janata Party during proceedings in the Legislative Assembly, on Friday.
During his preliminary submission on the motion of confidence, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy recalled the Governor's message to the Speaker on Thursday, and remarked that he, too, has received similar messages from Raj Bhavan.
He wondered whether the Governor had such powers to issue directions to him, and left it to the Speaker's discretion. Citing a judgement by the constitution bench of the Supreme Court on a decision arrived at by the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, Mr Kumaraswamy said the bench had defined the Governor's role and also directed those holding gubernatorial posts to keep away from political developments in their respective states.
Intervening in the debate, RDPR minister Mr Krishna Byre Gowda said the Governor could set a deadline for the trust vote only if he has asked the Chief Minister to face a floor test.
In the state Assembly, Mr Kumaraswamy himself had moved the trust vote and therefore cannot meet any deadlines set by the Governor.
Charging that the Governor was acting in favour of the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr Krishna Byre Gowda said when Mr Yeddyurappa sought time to prove his majority, the Governor allowed him to do so in 15 days, but was restricting it to 15 hours for Congress-Janata Dal (Secular).
Mr J Madhuswamy, a Bharatiya Janata Party legislator, tried to intervene saying the situation in Arunachal Pradesh and in Karnataka was not similar. In Arunachal Pradesh, the Chief Minister enjoyed majority, but the coalition had lost majority in Karnataka, he added.
Mr Madhuswamy's statement triggered an uproar with legislators of the coalition challenging him on the issue of the government lacking majority. They raised slogans against the Governor and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
