Congress calls Karnataka trust vote 'vitiated'

NEW DELHI: Congress on Thursday slammed the trust vote secured by the BJP government in Karnataka amid growing recognition in the party that the B S Yeddyurappa government may continue in office if the JD(S) doesn't succeed in peeling away more BJP MLAs and if the Karnataka High Court does not declare void the disqualification of not just the Independent MLAs but also the 13 saffron rebels.
"The vote of confidence won by the Yeddyurappa government is a vitiated and a subverted vote," party spokesperson Manish Tiwari told reporters here.
Tiwari pointed out that the Congress had asked the Speaker to wait for the High Court decision on disqualification of MLAs before seeking the trust vote, but the plea went unheeded. "The intent of BJP from day one was to convert a minority government into a majority government and by using money and muscle power, BJP has been able to prove its majority in this vitiated vote of confidence," the spokesperson said.
The angry denunciation came amid growing feeling in the party that the BJP, save a setback in the HC on Monday when it will rule on the disqualification of 11 BJP MLAs as well as five Independents and JD(S)'s effort to wean away BJP MLAs, the saffron rival may be able to hold on to power in Karnataka.
For all its anger against the Speaker, the party has decided to keep a safe distance from the toppling game, although governor H R Bhardwaj put paid to the "strategic aloofness" by leaping into the murky drama with a vigour that proved to be counter-productive.
Karnataka presents the Congress with a difficult set of dilemmas. BJP having the reins of power in the resourceful state rankles it, obviously, but the party does not want to be seen to be working overtime to unseat the saffronites. It reckons that the BJP, despite having failed to make good its promise to deliver a "model government", retains a support base that it can galvanise into an effective political machine by playing victim.
The assessment has been reinforced by the ruling party continuing to pull off wins despite its poor performance in office, and by continuing to enjoy the sympathies of Lingayats, the single most preponderant caste, for their man, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa.
Complications arise because the Congress can be seen to be lagging behind the JD(S) which is anxious to dislodge the BJP government only at the cost of ceding significant chunk of political space that should come to it by virtue of being the main Opposition.
It will still prefer to sit and watch, hoping that the BJP government will fall under the weight of its own contradictions.
The view was spelt out by Union law minister Veerappa Moily who termed Yeddyurappa's as a transient trumph, saying that no party can run a stable government with "this sort of majority".
"The victory of the ruling party in the trust vote is only transitory in nature. No party can run a stable government with this sort of majority," agencies quoted Moily as saying.