Karnataka polls: SC decision to hold floor test today shows Governor Vajubhai Vala was at fault, says Shiv Sena

Mumbai: The Supreme Court’s decision of slashing the 15-day window given to Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa to prove majority showed that Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala had favoured the saffron party and he was at fault, the Shiv Sena said on Saturday. It also alleged that since the BJP has “money and muscle power”, it may win over some Congress and JD(S) MLAs to prove majority in the southern state. “The Karnataka power play reached the corridors of the Supreme Court, which virtually nullified the governor’s decision. Despite the BJP not having the clear majority, Governor Vajubhai Vala hurriedly invited it to form the government and gave it 15 days time to prove majority,” the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana. “But the SC reduced the 15-day window and ordered it to be done within 24 hours. This shows that the governor had granted extra favours to Yeddyurappa. The SC decision of drastically slashing the 15-day window shows that the governor was at fault. [caption id=“attachment_4474331” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa will face the floor test on Saturday. PTI[/caption] “The newly-elected members of the Karnataka Assembly are yet to take oath. But ever before that the governor had nominated an Anglo-Indian member. Although it is the prerogative of the governor, given the political instability and the power play at work, it was an attempt to assure one vote (to BJP),” the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said. This nomination is done based on the advice of the chief minister. But in this case, Yeddyurappa was yet to prove majority in the House. Therefore, by staying the nomination, the SC once again showed that the governor’s move was wrong, it said. “The BJP has 104 MLAs, but it does not have the answer as to how it is going to prove majority in the House. If at all there is an answer, it is either hidden in the money bags or lies with the Enforcement Directorate or the CBI. The responsibility of proving the majority seems to be more on the police, CBI and ED than Yeddyurappa,” it said. “Congress’s four MLAs have gone missing, while the mining mafia in politics has become active once again. Perhaps because of them, Yeddyurappa is confidently saying that the BJP will win the trust vote,” the Sena added. “The letter presented before the Supreme Court, which Yeddyurappa had earlier submitted to the governor, says that some JD(S) MLAs will support him. This letter itself is a proof of horse-trading,” it said. “The Supreme Court has given a jolt to the BJP in Karnataka. Nevertheless, considering the party’s policies, it will either win over some MLAs from the Congress and JD(S) or ask them to remain absent during the trust vote. This way, it will fulfil to its promise of providing clean and transparent governance,” the party said. “BJP has got money and muscle power. It also controls different government machineries…In the national politics, morality, ethical practices, loyalty towards a party, trust have become things of the past. The quality of politics has gone down considerably over the past few years, it said.