Declaring an all-out war against Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj, ruling BJP today announced a series of public rallies to press for his recall, saying the agitation would continue till he leaves the state.
Intensifying their anti-Governor campaign, Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs and MLCs, besides senior leaders, including M Venkaiah Naidu, staged a protest in front of Raj Bhavan and courted arrest. “We will continue our agitation till he (Bhardwaj) leaves Karnataka,” state party chief K S Eshwarappa told a meeting of the BJP Legislature Party before the legislators set out to stage the protest against the Governor, whose sanction for prosecution of Chief Minister B S Yeddurappa came as a flash point in the prolonged conflict between him and the government.
He accused Bhardwaj of trying to destablise the BJP government in the company of the Congress and JD-S. The slogan shouting BJP legislators, carrying placards reading “Governor go back”, “Congress agent Bhardwaj down, down” and “Call back governor”, were stopped by police present in good strength outside Raj Bhavan. After raising anti-Governor slogans, the legislators got into police vans and courted arrest even as the Governor left Raj Bhavan minutes before the protest to attend a function. Unfazed by the stepped up attack by BJP, which yesterday petitioned President Pratibha Patil for his recall, Bhardwaj continued with his barbs against the Yeddyurappa Government, asking the people to save Karnataka from “malpractices”.
“We should build a powerful society in Karnataka and save the state from malpractices. Malpractices destroy every system,” said Bhardwaj, whose relationship with BJP has been consistently strained since H R Bhardwaj became Governor.
Speaking at the National Voters Day celebration organised by the State Election Commission here, Bhardwaj, dubbed a Congress agent by the BJP, asserted that he was hundred per cent committed to rule of law.
