BJP indulging in horse-trading in Karnataka, says Congress

The Karnataka Congress today charged the ruling BJP with indulging in horse-trading to keep its government in power and claimed that chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has no legal and moral right to continue in office.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president RV Deshpande noted that independent MLA Varthur Prakash had met Governor H R Bhardwaj, as also 119 other legislators, on October 11 when the opposition parties paraded them in support of their claim that the government had lost majority in the 224-member assembly.

But a day before the October 15 second trust vote, Prakash was lured by the BJP into its camp with "inducements like ministerial berth", Deshpande told reporters.

He also said MC Ashwath, the JD(S) MLA, who abstained from voting on October 15, resigned his assembly membership, when he met speaker K G Bopaiah.

Deshpande referred to the statement of BJP's state unit chief KS Eshwarappa who had said his party's "doors are open for (opposition) MLAs".

Terming all these three developments as nothing but "horse-trading", he appealed to the governor, President Pratibha Patil, UPA as well as the judiciary to take note of it.

"Legally and morally, Yeddyurappa has no right to continue in office for even a moment," he said.