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"...I tell you, it would not do good to society to polarise," Bhardwaj said without taking any names, when asked about the rise of the Gujarat Chief Minister in national politics and its impact on the country.
He said polarisation on ideological grounds was acceptable but not on communal lines.
"Constitutionally, it (communalisation of politics) is prohibited," Bhardwaj, a former Union Law Minister, said, also noting that using the communal card was considered a corrupt practise by the Election Commission.
"People of India will judge...I cannot judge...I only want no communalisation of politics," he said after a rare interaction with the media at a meet-the-press programme organised by the Press Club of Bangalore and Bangalore Reporters' Guild.
Earlier in his address, he said the country was secular and it could not afford communal violence. Governance was important, but more important is the unity of the country, he said.
On his turbulent relationship with the B S Yeddyurappa government, particularly on the issue of illegal mining of iron ore by powerful mining barons Janardhan and Karunakara Reddy, he said, "You do not know how much I was harassed." At another point, he said, "I suffered in silence."
He, however, said Yeddyurappa was a "good friend of mine" towards whom he bore no ill will. Bhardwaj said he also had a good relationship with Yeddyurappa's successors D V Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar and "I do not add party colour (to Governor's office)."
Bhardwaj, who has completed four years in office, said on his future plans, "Now, I want to retire. I do not like this kind of politics (as is happening in the country). My capacity to bear all these things is not there.
