Punjab Cong submits memorandum against K'taka governor

The Punjab Congress, led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and party president Sunil Jakhar, today submitted a memorandum to the President through Governor V P Singh Badnore, protesting against "subversion" of the Constitution by the governor of Karnataka, and sought his intervention to "save" the democratic polity of the country.

The chief minister lambasted the BJP-led government at the Centre for allegedly leaving no stone unturned to subvert the Constitution.

"A grave violation of the Constitution has taken place in Karnataka and the Supreme Court has already intervened to uphold the Constitutional principles of the country, but we have appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind, through the memorandum, to protect the democratic values on which India is founded," the chief minister said after meeting the governor at the Punjab Raj Bhawan here.

PPCC president Sunil Jakhar expressed concerns over the consequences he said the Karnataka developments would have for the nation.

Terming the act of the Karnataka governor as "blatant murder of democracy", Jakhar said the principle of 'one nation, one law' could not be ignored and the Constitution could not be interpreted and applied differently in different states.

The rule of law had been set aside by the Karnataka governor on partisan lines, the Punjab Congress chief said, adding that there was no ambiguity about which party should be invited to form the government in such cases, given the various recent precedents and judicial verdicts.

The governor was encouraging horse trading and could be tried for breach of the Constitution, Jakhar alleged, pointing out that the Supreme Court also rejected the BJP's argument that the anti-defection law did not apply before the MLAs were sworn in.

In its memorandum, the Congress described the events of Karnataka as a "blatantly murderous assault on India's democratic polity and Constitutional principles, which could escalate into the total destruction of the very foundations on which the Indian Republic is founded."
Through the memorandum, the party expressed itself as "outraged and appalled at the scandalous collusion between the governor and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was clearly manifested in his decision to invite the BJP to form the government in Karnataka in violation of all ethical norms."