'Signatures of several Congress MLAs in letter to Guv forged'

The BJP todayalleged that the Congress has forged the signatures ofmany of its legislators while submitting the party's list of MLAs to the Governor claiming it had the numbers to form the government.

Addressing reporters here, Union Human Resources Minister Prakash Javadekar said one was at a loss to understand how Congress could collect the signatures of all the MLAs even before they arrived in Bengaluru and attended the Congress Legislature Party meeting.

He said forging signatures and other documents wasnot something new to the Congress.

When the polls in Manipur threw up a hung Assembly, Congress submitted a forged letter of supportof the Manipur People's Party. However, it was found that the grand old party had forged it, he said.

In Karnataka also,the Congress had resorted to theirage old practice, Javadekar said, adding the party hasbecome synonymous with the word forgery.

Defending Governor Vajubhai Vala's action in inviting BJP to form the government,Javadekar said he had onlyfollowed the rule book as there was no pre-poll alliance in Karnataka and Congress and JDS were bitter foes before the poll, where the parties' leaders called each other names.

"During his election campaign in Karnataka, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had termed JDS as the 'B' team of BJP. Hehad said that JD(S) means nothing but Janata Dal Sangh Parivar. Now they are trying to cobble together analliance, which is nothing but a sheer opportunistic move," he said.

TheGovernor did the right thing by inviting the single largest party toform the government and prove the majority on the floor of theHouse, he added.

Javadekar said it was sad that Congress has held its MLAs captive in 'isolated resorts', severing contacts with their families and not even being allowed to watch newschannels.

Referring to Congress President Rahul Gandhi's remark at Raipur today that the judiciary hadbeen suppressed, Javadekar reminded him of the dark days ofthe Emergency in 1975.

"The grand old party had not only overturned the judicialsystem, but also suppressed the freedom of the press. Instead ofseeking pardon for their sins, the Congress leader is tryingto create a false perception," he said.

Against the backdrop of the developments in Karnataka, Gandhi asserted at an event in Raipur that the Constitution is under 'severe attack', even as he said the judiciary and the press were under "fear" that usually happens in Pakistan under "dictatorship" and some African countries ruled by Generals.

He alleged there was an atmosphere of fear in the country with even institutions such as the judiciary and the press being suppressed and threatened.