Bhardwaj has rushed a report on the happenings in Karnataka to the Centre. Home Ministry sources said that there would be a meeting at 4 pm to study the report. An hour earlier, the Karnataka High Court will hear the petition of the rebel MLAs who have challenged their dismissal.
The Centre is wary that if it dismisses the government, the BJP will corner all the sympathy.
Meanwhile, Central BJP leaders now plan to petition the President and also hold a dharna in front of the Raj Bhavan in Bangalore.
Senior BJP leaders have accused Bhardwaj of acting as a `Congress stooge' and said he should be recalled in order to preserve the sanctity of the office of the governor.
Chief Minister Yeddyurappa said he did not expect such a (pro-Congress) behaviour from the Governor. He also said that there would be a cabinet expansion soon.
The ruling BJP accused Governor H.R. Bhardwaj of attempting to destabilise the party-led government and asked the Centre to recall him.
State unit BJP president K.S. Eswarappa warned that if the Centre did not recall Bhardwaj, the party would launch a state wide stir against him.
"The Governor is acting like a leader of the opposition. He is encouraging Congress and JDS. Ever since he assumed office of the Governor of the state, he has been trying to destabilise the BJP government", Eswarappa charged at a press conference here.
Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa also criticised the conduct of Bhardwaj and said "people of the state had not expected such a behaviour by the Governor".
Bhardwaj tried to exercise the powers vested with the Speaker, he said, apparently referring to the Governor's letter to the Assembly presiding officer against disqualifying rebels.
But the Union Home Ministry is said to be concerned over developments in Karnataka and has taken serious note of them. Prima facie, sources feel that the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, the anti-defection law, has been abused.
Highly placed sources said the abuse of the anti-defection law was more so in the case of disqualification of independents. They said the Tenth Schedule does not apply to independents and, therefore, there is no question of their disqualification.
Even in the case of dissident BJP MLAs, the sources said disqualification can only be on two grounds - one if the MLA resign from the party voluntarily and two if he votes against the whip. Therefore, there is no question of disqualification of the BJP MLAs before the vote, the sources said.
Following the disqualification of 16 MLAs, the effective strength of the 224-member Assembly was reduced to 208, with the ruling side commanding the strength of 108 as against the combined opposition strength of 101. Congress has 73 members and JDS 28.
Meanwhile, the 16 MLAs who were disqualified from their Assembly membership on Monday moved the Karnataka High Court challenging their disqualification and seeking stay of the Speaker's order.
The petition is expected to come up for hearing before a division bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar after 3 pm.
Opposition Congress today demanded the immediate resignation of Yeddyurappa, saying his government has "already lost majority" after the Speaker disqualified 16 MLAs.
Reacting sharply to the disqualification of the MLAs, including 11 from BJP by Speaker K G Bopaiah, Congress leader in the Assembly Siddaramaiah said with the disqualification of BJP legislators, the government had already lost its majority.
"Yeddyurappa has no right to continue in office. If the Chief Minister has any morality, he should quit immediately", Siddaramaiah told reporters here. Siddaramaiah lashed out at Bopaiah, whom he alleged "behaved like the agent of the ruling party" and said under the circumstances, the Speaker cannot conduct the proceedings of the House in a "free and fair manner".
"Who gave him the power to disqualify independent MLAs," he asked while accusing him of behaving like Adolf Hitler. Congress will call on Governor H R Bhardwaj soon seeking his intervention, he said.
In a day of high drama, pandemonium and chaos in the Karnataka Assembly, Speaker K G Bopaiah held a controversial voice vote and declared that the B S Yeddyurappa had won the trust vote by 106 to nil.
Minutes later he walked out as the Opposition and the ruling BJP traded boos and claps. While the BJP celebrated, the Opposition Congress and the JD(S) stood on the benches and shouted slogans asking Yeddyurappa to resign.
Congress workers and corporators belonging to the party held a protest in front of the Vidhana Soudha.
Earlier, high drama prevailed in the Karnataka Assembly premises as the 16 disqualified MLAs accompanied by some JD(S) MLAs broke open the locks of the high security Vidhana Soudha in the heart of Bangalore and tried to make their way to the Assembly on Monday morning.
Earlier, the political crisis in Karnataka took a new turn on Monday when Speaker K G Bopaiah thumbed his nose at Governor H R Bharadwaj and expelled rebel 16 MLAs -- 11 of the BJP and 5 independents -- thus reducing the strength of the House from 224 to 208. This gave the BS Yeddyurappa led government a major advantage.
The rebels have been disqualified under the Anti-Defection Act were prevented from entering the Assembly.
The 11 BJP rebels who were disqualified were M.P. Renukacharya, Gopalakrishna Beluru, Anand Ansnotikar, Balachandra Jarkiholi, B.N. Sarvabhouma, Bharamgowda Kage, Y. Sampangi, G.N. Nanjundaswamy, M.V. Nagaraju, Shivan Gowda Nayak and H.S. Shankaralinge Gowda.
The five Independents were Shivaraj S. Tangadagi, Venkataramanappa, P.M. Narayana Swamy, D. Sudhakar and Gulihatti Shekar.
Of the 16 disqualified rebels, eight, including three from the BJP and five independents, were ministers who were sacked recently for revolting against the leadership.
Bopaiah disqualified the rebels after serving show-cause notices to each of them Oct 8 and seeking their replies by Sunday 5 p.m.
The speaker took the dramatic action, ignoring state Governor H.R. Bhardwaj's advice Sunday against disqualifying the rebel lawmakers.
Former Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, who met the Governor demanded immediate dismissal of the government. The trust vote was not conducted properly. The speaker and chief minister ran away by announcing the voice vote," Kumaraswamy told reporters.
Source: India Syndicate, Agencies