The Punjab Congress, led by Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh on Friday submitted a memorandum to the President, through Governor VP Singh Badnore, protesting against the alleged subversion of the Constitution by the Governor of Karnataka, and seeking his intervention to save the democratic polity of the country.
“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 CM told reporters after meeting the Governor at the Punjab Raj Bhawan.
Amarinder lambasted the BJP-led government at the Centre for leaving no stone unturned to subvert the Constitution.
Earlier, while presenting the memorandum to the Governor, Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar expressed concern over the consequences that 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 the law had been set aside by the Karnataka Governor on partisan lines, said the Punjab Congress chief, 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, who was also obviously encouraging horse trading could be tried for breach of the Constitution, said Jakhar, pointing out that the Supreme Court had also rejected the BJP’s argument that anti-defection law does not apply before the MLAs are 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.”
The memorandum described the Karnataka Governor’s decision to invite the BJP to form the government as an attempt “to permit BJP to convert minority into majority by horse trading and by permitting the legislators to change loyalties based on various financial and other allurements.”