Karnataka governor Hansraj Bhardwaj has managed to make himself the cynosure of all eyes. First by receiving a petition from the Congress MLC against the Reddy brothers, then by issuing a showcause notice to three State ministers, and now by telling the media that he had asked chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa to drop them.
Notwithstanding the gravity of the charges against the brothers and the untenability of the government’s defence, the governor’s proactive approach has invited plenty of brickbats, even as he merrily meets the President, prime minister and home minister while the whispers of Article 356 grow louder.
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The Hindu calls it a case of “Gubernatorial Overreach“:
“Apart from placing himself in direct conflict with the elected government, Bharadwaj has, by his impropriety, lent credence to the allegation that he has acted as an “agent of the Congress” in meddling with the ugly political controversy raging in Karnataka. If it is too much for him to show the restraint, dignity, and even-handedness expected of the Governor’s office, he must resign or be replaced forthwith.”
The Pioneer says the governor is playing the Congress’s game:
“What makes Bhardwaj’s crude effort to destabilise the Yediyurappa government so extraordinary is that he, of all people, should be so concerned about the need for “probity and integrity” — two words he has taken to using very frequently of late while castigating the Reddy Brothers, whom he has amazingly declared guilty of indulging in corrupt practices without even a formal inquiry — in the government.
“As Law Minister in the first UPA Government, he bent every rule in the book and made a mockery of the criminal justice system to get the Italian middleman Ottavio Quattrocchi, wanted by the CBI to stand trial as the key accused in the Bofors bribery case, off the hook. It was Bhardwaj’s expertise that was used by the Congress to bury a scandal that had come to symbolise corruption in high places. And, it was Bhardwaj’s intervention that ensured Quattrocchi was able to access the bribe money that had been parked in two London bank accounts which were frozen when the NDA was in power.”
Mail Today counsels the governor against crossing the line:
“Unfortunately, nothing that the governor has done till now suggests that he is conscious of the limits to his gubernatorial powers. If Bhardwaj thinks the constitutional system has broken down in the state he can certainly recommend the government’s dismissal to the President. But what he should not do is to address press conferences on the matter, as happened on Tuesday…. It would also help if he realised that his long political career has not endowed him with the credentials or the credibility of being seen as some kind of a political reformer.”
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churumuri 
This may turn out to be the twist in the tale that will save the Reddy Brothers.
The Governor, by playing the role of an activist, will give the the Reddy Brothers the status of a “victim” in the eyes of their patrons (e.g. Sushma Swaraj).
The mining lords, and the congress mining lobby will continue to remain entrenched.
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It is high time the state Govt was dismissed by the President.
Well, considering the enormous wealth accumulated by the BJP crooks lead by the Bellary dons, it may be another hung verdict in a few months, thanks primarily to the massive display of money power that is going to be most obvious in the next elections.
However, the least the central govt could do right now is to immediately ban the illegal iron ore mining activities, nationalize the mineral industry and sack the highly corrupt CM and his stooges who seem to be happy minting millions, while the opposition is helpless.
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Why did it take our Churumuri so long to needle the sanctimonious agent-in-chief at the Raj Bhavan? I squirm everytime he includes me, a local and a Kannadiga, among his subjects whom he wants to protect.
I don’t know of what political persuasion the owner of india.in is, but thatskannada.com, alone among our dailies, encourages its readers to take the man to task in unparliamentary language comparable to Shri Devegowda’s.
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Previously CBI and now Governer both are acting as per direction of Central Govt.Congress wants image of BJP ruled states tarnished.In Gujarat also there is a systematic attempt not to allow Govt. to function.The same thing is happening in Karnataka.
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Agree with comment by BG here.
This Hansraj B is a cartoon and he has thrown a lifeline to the (Ye+Re)ddy gang by hyperventilating. He himself is not a paragon of virtue is not helping his case.
Ofc our YeReddy merry men are having jalsa and that fact hasn’t been missed by anyone in our land unless one has been dwelling under the rock(not the iron ore one ‘coz any of that left any more?)
But timing is everything in politics and this B guy blew it. Now if the centre overplays its hand it would be one more endless gut-wrenching crying game by Yeddy and gang who would pose as the hutatmas.
I can live with all the corruption and lawlessness but the aforementioned spectacle of bucket full of tears is what I am mortally afraid of as I might choke in my own puke and I am sure there are many like me amongst the 6 koti Kannada janate.
So I say this.. my fellow Kannadigas, let’s oust this Governor and save ourselves!
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When the stats that the Chief Minister himself quotes says 72 lakh tons of iron ore was illegally transported out in 2009-10 alone and that he can do little about it what is a Bharadwaj to do but play the games he knows best.
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Shetty:
>It is high time the state Govt was dismissed by the President.
Irrespective of how corrupt the govt. is, unless there is total breakdown of law-and-order (strife of the degree as in Gujrat2002), a Govt. should not be dismissed. The power of chucking out a govt. is vested only in People.
Bharadwaj is a moron, perhaps a crook too. He practically ensured that Quattrocchi not only got away in Boforce case in India, but also ensured he also got handsomely rewarded by allowing defreezing of his accounts abroad!!!
Such moron is trying to take a high ground today!! I’d have laughed, but, the misfortune is ours. Karnataka is plagued by the worst characters you can find within India. :-(
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I agree, Harkol and Shetty. Worse characters than even those in the pitiful Kannada movies. Soon there is to be one titled, “Kollu, Maga, Maja Madu Maga,” starring Shivraj Kumar, Parvathamma, Upendra, a few busty non-Kannadathi actresses and the spirit of the late Vishnuvardhana. All songs will be belched out by troglodytes from the North.
I am for dismissing the Union government, the state government, Hansraj Bharadwaj, Santos Yegde, and Simple.
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@harkol: Sir, the post of Governor is more or less pension plans for retired politicians. Why not appoint retired and eminent IAS officer? Why not appoint a person who has no particular political leanings? Last but not the least “Do we really need Governors when most of them are rubber stamps just like our bidiru bombe President?”
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H.E. is acting as both prosecutor and the judge. Yet, I don’t think, the government will be dismissed. If it is, they will gain sympathy of the people and may return to power stronger.
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You are all right in a way. The governor is no saint himself, he is a congress agent, he is overstepping his mandate etc. All these are true.
But think for a moment. Isn’t this good in a way? If this helps to bring about the end of the Reddy brothers, will it not bode well for Karnataka? It doesn’t matter how an evil man’s career is ended, as long as it is ended.
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Today, I hear that Sriramulu Reddy paid a visit to three notorious rowdies in jail. When questioned by the media, he claims that he was giving them advice to reform their ways in future!!!
I agree with ‘Angry Young Man’ above – these Reddys deserve to be sent out. I am with the Governor in this!
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AYM:
>If this helps to bring about the end of the Reddy brothers
Bharadwaj emitting so much gas only makes it easy for BJP to claim this is all congie conspiracy. Mr. Hegde was doing a better job…
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I expect both the Janata Dal and the Congress know that if Yediyurappa’s government is dismissed, they themselves will disappear from the radar in Karnataka.
Unlike in the North, the BJP has effectively neutralised the struggle of the disenfranchised in Karnataka. Just count the number of BJP lawmakers from reserved constituencies.
There are other, equally tatalising ironies here. Siddharamayya, who so raged against Devegowda for depriving him of the state’s chief ministership has now literally joined hands with him. Kumaraswamy ought to know that his father’s choice for chief minister is now Revanna, yet he follows the politically suicidal path laid out for him by the old man. The legislators
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agitating for a CBI inquiry into mining in Karnataka, led by these buffoons, do not realise they can very well be charged with dereliction of duty and obstruction of official business, theoretically, and sent home sliding on their rears. It won’t be long before the sugarcane and the rice vokkaligas in the four adjacent JDS districts will join hands with the plantation betel nut gowdas of the Western Ghats and the Congresswallahs, like Hirisave Shrikantayya, will be leaving the Hand party in droves to join the BJP. After all, that is where the foul rupees are safe now. All that the vokkaligas in the state need now is a clear fatwah from the Shri Shri Shri of Adichunchanagiri to desert the Gowda clan. Surely the Jagadguru has not forgiven Devegowda’s lese majeste in setting up the rival Vishwa Vokkaligara Mahaasamsthaana, which currently has plenty of woes of its own.
Money is now far more powerful than jathi or even language in our state. Take a look at our Rajya Sabha members and Union cabinet ministers who did not get where they are strictly on the basis of their merit.
What is to be done needs to be done in short order to save ourselves. I wish I believed in the power of prayer.
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Karnataka deserves better. Where are the Kannada organizations?
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I have read that the governor has now instructed the government not to prosecute Shashidhara Prasad, former VC of Mysore University. I am not surprised. A corrupt state gets a corrupt government and corrupt governor.
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