On the House

Given Hansraj Bhardwajs insistence on insinuating the Bangalore Raj Bhavan in moves to topple the Karnataka government,Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has drawn far more sympathy than he would otherwise have. In the latest instance,the governors report to the Centre suggesting that the Yeddyurappa-led BJP ministry be dismissed and the state assembly placed under suspended animation ended up relieving the CM of the onus to react to a crucial Supreme Court ruling this month. The court,over-ruling a decision of the Karnataka high court,had restored the membership of 16 MLAs,including 11 of the ruling BJP,who had been disqualified by the speaker before a very controversial vote of confidence last October. It is a significant ruling that clarifies crucial questions on the anti-defection law. And in dwelling on the October vote,it puts a moral obligation on Yeddyurappa to revisit the vote in question. It demands a far more sober and reflective response from him than he appears to be willing to offer.

Now,even as the threat of dismissal has passed,Yeddyurappa has found another opportunity to bristle at what he terms political motivation on the part of the UPA government. The Union home ministry has issued an advisory to the Karnataka government asking that law and order be maintained and extra-constitutional activities be prevented. On Karnataka,the BJP and the Congress lose no opportunity to fling themselves into rhetorical combat,and each can be expected to raise questions about the constitutional propriety of the others actions. But given that Yeddyurappa has spent his entire tenure so far scrambling to retain the confidence of the House,no amount of grandstanding on his governments federal rights will obscure the circumstances of the October vote that the SC has ruled on,casting grave questions about the speakers actions.

The BJP legislators who had rebelled now claim to support Yeddyurappa. The CM himself collected them all and flew them to Delhi and paraded them before the president as proof that his government commanded a majority. But the place to do that,now,is the assembly. The governors act of constitutional overreach cannot be balanced by the CMs unwillingness to be accountable to the House.