Karma spares none: Ram Madhav

GANDHINAGAR: The confrontation between Karnataka governor

Vaju Vala

and H D Deve Gowda's JD(S) revived political memories in Gujarat, with many invoking the 'karma' theory.

In 1996, Deve Gowda was the PM when President's rule was imposed in Gujarat. Vala was then chief of the ruling Gujarat BJP. Gowda, along with Congress-appointed governor Krishnapal Singh, was believed to have played a key role in not allowing the BJP regime to prove its majority. The political crisis was triggered by a split in BJP by rebel leader Shankersinh Vaghela, who had lost out to

Keshubhai Patel

in the race to become CM in 1995. Vaghela's Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) eventually formed the government with Congress support after President's Rule was lifted.

With Congress and JD(S) attacking Vala and BJP over the political wrangle in Karnataka on Wednesday, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav shared a social media post, comparing the Karnataka situation to the same in Gujarat in 1996. He said the Karnataka outcome was "the bitter fruit of Congress's karma in Gujarat in 1996".

Madhav's post describes in detail Vaghela's revolt and the role of Congress in thwarting attempts by BJP to prove its majority on the floor of the assembly. "How is this story relevant after 22 years in Karnataka? Because those quoting verses of morality, constitutional ethics and conventions were perpetrators of murdering democracy and numerous elected governments," the post reads. Karma catches all, spares none, Madhav wrote.

Vaghela, the ex-Gujarat CM who left Congress before the 2017 assembly polls and has since been cosying up to BJP, said, "There cannot be any comparison of 1996 Gujarat and today's Karnataka. In 1996, there was a spilt in BJP and BJP lost the numbers, so the governor imposed President's Rule and later invited me to prove my majority. However, Constitution says the governor shall invite the single largest party first to form government. What Vala did is technically correct. If BJP fails to prove its numbers, the governor can invite Congress-JD(S)."