Governor asks BJP to prove majority before customary joint address

In a significant political development, Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur has asked the B S Yeddyurappa-led BJP Government in the state to prove its majority on the floor of the House before he could deliver his customary address to the joint legislature session.

When a delegation of BJP leaders called on the Governor at Raj Bhavan on Friday night to invite him to address the joint session of the state legislature scheduled to be held from June 4 to 6, Thakur insisted that Yeddyurappa prove his strength on the floor of the House.

Thakur informed the BJP delegation that their party had not won a majority on its own in the assembly elections. The BJP had fallen three seats short of a simple majority in the 224-member House.

Though the BJP had crossed the magical figure of 113 required for a majority in the House by securing the support of six independents, Thakur said he would address the joint session of the state legislature only after the Yeddyurappa-led Government passes the vote of confidence.

Earlier on Friday, the Cabinet at its maiden meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yeddyurappa decided to recommend the Governor to call for the legislature session of the assembly from June 4 to 6 to enable the new members to take oath and elect the Speaker. Yeddyurappa had scheduled the vote of confidence for June 6.

But, the Governor’s directive to the Chief Minister to prove his majority before his customary address to the joint session has come under criticism from the BJP.

“The Governor’s decision not to address the joint session of the state legislature is against the will of democracy. I think he is acting as per the wishes of the Congress leaders”, BJP’s Karnataka unit President D V Sadananda Gowda told reporters.

BJP leaders said the Governor was bound by the Constitution to address a joint session of the state legislature on the first day of the first session of the year, irrespective of whether a new Government has been formed nor not.

“We are absolutely comfortable with the numbers. We have also proved it in front of the Governor himself before he invited us to form the Government. If he insists, we are not averse to proving it again. But, the Constitution clearly states that the Governor’s address comes first”, a BJP leader said.