State Cong seeks K’taka guv’s removal over ‘partisan’ act

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A grave violation of the Constitution has taken place in Karnataka and the SC has already intervened to uphold principles... but we appeal to President Ram Nath Kovind to protect the democratic values of India. CAPT AMARINDER SINGH, chief minister

CHANDIGARH: A Congress delegation in Punjab, led by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and state unit president Sunil Jakhar, on Friday submitted a memorandum to the President of India, through governor VP Singh Badnore, protesting against the “subversion of the Indian Constitution” by the governor of Karnataka and seeking intervention “to save the democratic polity”.

“A grave violation of the Constitution has taken place in Karnataka and the Supreme Court has already intervened to uphold the Constitutional principles of the country, but we have appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind, through the memorandum, to protect the democratic values on which India is founded,” the CM told reporters after meeting the governor at the Punjab Raj Bhawan here. The memorandum sought that the Karnataka governor, Vajubhai Vala, be recalled.

Vala invited the BJP to form the government despite the fact that it did not win a majority in the recent assembly polls there. After the Congress and JD(S) approached the SC, it advanced the date of the trust motion in the assembly there to Friday.

On this, Amarinder said the BJP-led government at the Centre had left “no stone unturned to subvert the Constitution”. While presenting the memorandum to Badnore, Jakhar, who is Lok Sabha member from Gurdaspur, expressed concern over the consequences that the Karnataka developments would have for the nation. He termed Vala’s act “blatant murder of democracy”. He said the rule of the law had been set aside by Vala — he is a former BJP leader — on “partisan lines”.

“Needless to add that, with Prime Minister and BJP president giving dictates to every constitutional functionary to act unconstitutionally and illegally, democracy per se is in danger,” the memorandum said.

The party also held protests over the issue in Bathinda, Jalandhar and Amritsar, among other places in the state.

■ (From right) Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore receives a memorandum addressed to the President from state Congress president Sunil Jakhar, CM Capt Amarinder Singh, and ministers, including Brahm Mohindra and Navjot Singh Sidhu, at the Raj Bhawan in...