Chandigarh, May 18: The Punjab Congress, led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and party president Sunil Jakhar, on Friday submitted a memorandum to the President of India, through Governor VPS Badnore, protesting against the subversion of the Indian 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 Chief Minister told mediapersons after meeting the Governor at the Punjab Raj Bhawan here.
The Chief Minister 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, PPCC 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.”
Through the memorandum, the party expressed itself as “outraged and appalled at the scandalous collusion between the Governor and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was clearly manifest in his decision to invite the BJP to form the government in Karnataka in violation of all ethical norms, established precedents and Constitutional rules.”
It said the extremely dangerous precedent set by the Karnataka Governor strikes at the very heart of India’s democracy and portends grave consequences for all forthcoming elections and the electoral propriety which makes India the biggest democracy in the world.
“It is a situation that calls for your immediate intervention, as the supreme protector of the Constitution, to save the democracy of our beloved country,” said the memorandum, citing bare facts to point out that the Karnataka Governor had completely violated not just the dignity of his office but also the propriety and the principles attached to the Constitution.
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.”
This, said the memorandum, was a gross mockery of the majority rule and India’s democratic set-up. The Governor’s prejudice could be gauged from the fact that while BJP sought seven days to prove their majority, Governor proceeded to grant them 15 days for the same, it added.
“Needless to add that, with Prime Minister and BJP President giving dictates to every constitutional functionary to act unconstitutionally and illegally, democracy per se is in danger,” the memorandum further pointed out, terming the situation as “critical and warranting urgent intervention on the President’s part to save the Indian democracy by recalling the Karnataka Governor and reversing his ill-conceived, patently prejudiced and politically motivated decision.”
“India’s future is in now in your hands and it is our humble request, on the behalf of every Indian, to save the nation from the destruction of the last vestiges of its democratic polity,” said the delegation in its memorandum.
