Bangalore : JD(S) Demands President Rule in Karnataka 

Bangalore, Jul 20 (DHNS): The JD (S) on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Governor H R Bhardwaj requesting him to invoke Article 356 of the Constitution in the State, after Lokayukta Santosh Hegde alleged that the chief minister’s aides tried to influence him over the investigation into illegal mining.

JD (S) leaders including H D Kumaraswamy, H D Revanna, M C Nanaiah, N Cheluvarayaswamy and others met the Governor and requested him to “save the State from falling into a constitutional crisis and anarchy.”

Speaking to  reporters, Nanaiah said: “We told the Governor that Yeddyurappa’s latest attempt to influence Justice Santosh Hegde was a criminal offence under Section 17 (1) and (2) of the Karnataka Lokayukta Act, punishable with upto six years of imprisonment.” 

Nanaiah said that the High Court had recently observed that Karnataka was the most corrupt State in the country. The CM, his kin and his cabinet colleagues were involved  in land scams, illegal mining and other irregularities, he alleged.

“We asked the Governor to take all of this into consideration and invoke article 356. We also requested him to take legal steps against Yeddyurappa, and his three political functionaries, Higher Education minister V S Acharaya, BJP spokesperson Dhanajay Kumar and A G Kodgi.”

Earlier, thousands of JD(S) workers took out a rally from Anand Rao Circle to Freedom Park. Addressing the gathering, JD (S) supremo Deve Gowda condemned the BJP high command for shielding the CM. Kumaraswamy criticised Yeddyurappa for having taken off on a vacation to Mauritius, when the State was grappling with rains. “In 2009 too, when the State witnessed flash floods, all the BJP leaders were away in Suttur Mutt. This time too Yeddyurappa has evaded his responsibilities,” he said