Yeddyurappa, Governor meet; Karnataka deadlock to end?

Bangalore:

In a pitched political battle with the Karnataka ChiefMinister BS Yeddyurappa,  Governor HRBhardwaj met him in Bangalore this evening and told Mr Yeddyurappa that heexpects the Centre's decision on his recommendation for imposition ofPresident's Rule by tomorrow. This means Mr Yeddyurappa will have to wait a dayor two before the Governor  takes adecision on calling a session of the state assembly.

The Chief Minister and the Governor met for the first time since after the Supreme Court struck down the disqualification of rebel BJP MLAs last week, setting in motion a sequence of events that saw Mr Bhardwaj recommend President's Rule and Mr Yeddyurappa parade his MLAs before the President in New Delhi to show that he enjoyed a majority.

Before that formal meeting on Wednesday, the Governor and the CM came together at a police function in Bangalore, where they smiled, shook hands and chatted. Seated side by side, Mr Yeddyurappa and Mr Bhardwaj leaned over to talk to each other with no outward indication in either's body language that there is friction enough to make for national headlines.

But despite all the bonhomie, Mr Yeddyurappa told NDTV today that he still wants Bhardwaj to go and is confident that Centre will not act on Governor's recommendations. (Watch)

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Mr Yeddyurappa had on Tuesday triumphantly paraded his 121 MLAs before the President. Emerging from the Rashtrapati Bhawan, BJP president Nitin Gadkari said they had also requested the President to recall Governor Bhardwaj.  Mr Gadkari said Mr Bhardwaj's "action was unconstitutional", referring to his recommendation that President's Rule be imposed in Karnataka. Mr Gadkari pointed out that Mr Yeddyurappa "has the support of 122 MLAs" in the 225-seat Assembly.

The BJP ensured that Tuesday's show of strength was indeed that, with top leaders of the party accompanying their Chief Minister and his MLAs to Rashtrapati Bhawan.

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But the standoff continued even after Mr Yeddyurappa's visit to Rashtrapati Bhawan. The Karnataka Governor issued a press communique soon after defending his decision to recommend President's Rule in the state. He contended that intervention under Article 356 (1) of the Constitution of India was "not limited to a situation of Government losing its majority in the Assembly. The intervention is called for whenever there is breakdown of constitutional mechanism in the state."

The BJP has kept up the pressure it has built over the last two days on Mr Bhardwaj, with top leaders leaving no stone unturned to ensure that its only government in the South is saved.

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Mr Bhardwaj had sent a report over the weekend recommending President's Rule in the state. (Read: Governor recommends President's Rule) The Centre, sources say, is inclined to reject Mr Bhardwaj's report, which is also being seen as a hasty act that has caused some embarrassment.

The Supreme Court order

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The Karnataka Governor's suggestion over the weekend that President's Rule be imposed in the state was based on the Supreme Court order of last Friday, which said that 16 MLAs were disqualified incorrectly by the Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly ahead of a crucial vote of confidence that Mr Yeddyurappa narrowly survived last year. (Read: Major jolt for Yeddyurappa from Supreme Court)

The 16 MLAs include 11 from the BJP and five Independents who had supported the government, but in October 2010 said they would not support the Chief Minister during his trust vote. They were disqualified by the Speaker under anti-defection laws. This weekend, the BJP MLAs made it clear that they were backing their party. (Read: BJP wins over 11 rebel MLAs)

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The Supreme Court, in its order of last week, had made some strong observations about the role of the Speaker and the Chief Minister in the process of disqualification of the MLAs.

"Extraneous considerations are writ large on the face of the order of the Speaker and the same has to be set aside. The Speaker, in our view, proceeded in the matter as if he was required to meet the deadline set by the Governor, irrespective of whether, in the process, he was ignoring the constitutional norms set out in the Tenth Schedule and the Disqualification Rules, 1986, and in contravention of the basic principles that go hand in hand with the concept of a fair hearing," the court said.

"There was no compulsion on the Speaker to decide the disqualification application filed by Mr. Yeddyurappa in such a great hurry within the time specified by the Governor to conduct a vote of confidence in the government headed by Mr. Yeddyurappa. It would appear that such a course of action was adopted by the Speaker on October 10, 2010, since the vote of confidence was slated for October 12, 2010. The element of hot haste is also evident in the action of the Speaker. The procedure adopted by the Speaker seems to indicate that he was trying to meet the time schedule set by the Governor for the trial of strength and to ensure that the appellants and other independent MLAs stood disqualified prior to the date on which the floor test was to be held," the court added.