Karnataka governor trying to destabilise state govt: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today alleged that Karnataka Governor HR Bharadwaj was trying to "destabilise" its government in the state and said it would ask President Pratibha Patil to "check" him.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday alleged that Karnataka Governor H.R. Bharadwaj was trying to "destabilise" its government in the state and said it would ask President Pratibha Patil to "check" him.

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The BJP's reaction came as Bharadwaj on Tuesday met the president in New Delhi and stated later that corruption would not be allowed to flourish in the state.

BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said the governor, "a Congress loyalist", was campaigning against the BJP and had no right to intervene in the democratically elected government.

"Mr. Bharadwaj should decide once and for all whether he is he holding a constitutional post or he is a rank agent of the Congress party... The kind of statement he has made, we take strong offence to it and we will demand from the president of India to 'please check your governor'," Prasad said.

"The governor cannot become an agent to destabilise the government which has been popularly elected," he added.

The opposition Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) legislators are holding a protest in the Karnataka assembly against illegal mining, in which two state ministers are allegedly involved. They are demanding a probe by the CBI into the illegal mining.

The Reddy brothers, Tourism Minister G. Janardhana Reddy, his elder brother and Revenue Minister G. Karunakara Reddy, and younger brother and assembly member G. Somashekara Reddy, are accused of large-scale illegal mining in Bellary as well as neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

The brothers own the Obulapuram Mining Company.

Between 2003 and now, over 30 million tonnes of iron ore has been illegally mined and exported from Karnataka causing a huge revenue loss. Congress and JD-S claim that the illegal mining scam is worth around Rs.60,000 crore (Rs.600 billion).