The Congress president accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of promoting corruption in Karnataka to gain support for the BJP
NEW DELHI (IANS) — Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked the BJP and the RSS following resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, saying hopefully they got a lesson that institutions and will of the country cannot be disrespected.
Gandhi addressed the media here shortly after Yeddyurappa resigned ahead of the crucial trust vote, as the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) could not muster the numbers in the assembly.
He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of promoting corruption in Karnataka to gain support for the BJP, which emerged the single-largest party amid split verdict thrown up by the May 12 assembly election.
“The Prime Minister is encouraging corruption…,” Gandhi alleged.
The Congress leader congratulated members of his party and the Janata Dal-Secular for standing up to the pressure and not allowing the BJP to wean away their MLAs.
“I hope the BJP and the RSS learnt lessons that institutions of the country and the will of the country cannot be disrespected,” Gandhi said.
Victory of democracy
Soon after Karnataka Chief Minister B.S Yeddyurappa announced to resign before the floor, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad described it as the “victory of democracy”.
The Congress leader also thanked the MLAs of his party and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), and the two Independents for standing by the decision of the party leaderships.
Azad said that JD-S leader H.D. Kumaraswamy will soon stake the claim to form the government in state.
“We thank the MLAs of Congress, JD-S, one BSP candidate and Independents, who resisted all sorts of temptation and arm-twisting by the Central government and its agencies, and stood by the decision taken by their party leaderships,” Azad told the media outside the Karnataka Assembly.
He alleged that some of the Congress legislators were kidnapped and they were under illegal custiody of the BJP. “And as and when they got the opportunity to reach the assembly, they stood by the party. None of our members — be from the Congress, JD-S or Independent, defected,” he said.
Setback for Modi and BJP
The Congress’ Kerala unit termed the resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, as the biggest setback for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ramesh Chennithala said this is the biggest failure of Modi and BJP President Amit Shah who tried to manipulate democracy.
“They tried to promote horse trading and it ended as a big failure. Equally responsible for what happened in Karnataka is the role played by Governor Vajubhai Vala, who has no other option but quit. They tried their best to subvert democratic principles and failed badly and in the end democracy came out a winner,” he said.
