Bengaluru, Jul 16 (IANS): The opposition Congress on Thursday sought President's rule in Karnataka, as it said the ruling BJP government failed to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, as cases have been surging daily since July 1.

"It's time the BJP government resigns and allows President's rule in the state, as it is has failed miserably to control the COVID cases, which have been surging daily," party's state unit president DK Shivakumar told reporters here.

Latching on to state Health Minister B Sriramulu's statement on Wednesday that "only God can save Karnataka from the pandemic", Shivakumar said the government's incompetence had left the citizens to god's mercy.

"Why do we need a government, which cannot tackle the pandemic? What Sriramulu said reflects poorly on the BJP government's ability to handle the situation, which appears to be going out of its control due to its incompetence," thundered Shivakumar.

Addressing reporters at Chitradurga in the state's northwest region, Sriramulu had said only God could save the southern state from COVID-19 or the people should be made aware of it to avoid getting infected by violating lockdown guidelines.

"The BJP came to power nearly a year ago after engineering defections from the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and defeating our 14-month-old coalition government in the assembly on July 23, 2019. As it came to power by foul means, its chief minister B S Yediyurappa should resign and let governor Vajubhai Vala run the state to contain the virus spread," asserted Shivakumar.

Noting that the infection does not differentiate between rich and poor, police, doctors, politicians or legislators, Sriramulu said the communicable disease could rise to an alarming level in the ensuing two months, as the cases were rising daily the world over.

"Who can control corona? In the present situation, only God has to save us. Otherwise, people should become aware of its (virus) consequences. If we have made mistakes, we are ready to face punishment for them," said Sriramulu, who is the ruling BJP's legislator from the Molakalmuru reserved assembly segment in this district.

Refuting the opposition Congress charge that the cases were rising in the state due to negligence by ministers, officials and legislators, Sriramulu said Karnataka was performing better than other states till the cases began to steadily rise since unlock began and the people were moving in violation of the guidelines.