Raj Bhavan is like prison, I am like jail bird: Governor

PTI

Bangalore, 26 May 2011: Apparently upset over the Centre rejecting his report recommending President’s rule in Karnataka, Governor H R Bhardwaj today said Raj Bhavan was like a prison where he was a ’’jail bird.’’ 

 

"Raj Bhavan is like a prison and I am like a jail bird here," Bhardwaj said, making no secret of his unhappiness over the recent turn of events culminating in the Centre rejecting his recommendation that had triggered a political war in the state and put him and ruling BJP on a collision course.

 

The BJP had launched an agitation demanding recall of Bhardwaj who has been having uneasy relationship with the saffron party’s first ever government in the south.

 

At a function at Raj Bhavan, Bhardwaj said since he had to function within the framework of the Constitution, he had no freedom to take decisions independently.

 

He said his entry into politics was by accident and added that prior to his plunge into politics he was a good advocate."I am not a politician or a thinker. I am a good advocate," he said in an apparent bid to reject BJP’s accusations that he has turned Raj Bhavan into a political hub.Raj Bhavan doors are always open to thinkers and they may visit it, he said.

 

Bhardwaj, who has been criticising the functioning of the Yeddyurappa government, had recommended its dismissal on October 11 last when 16 MLAs including 11 BJP rebels, withdrew support to the ministry. It was rejected by the Centre then.

 

Following the Supreme Court’s recent verdict quashing the Assembly Speaker’s order disqualifying the 16 MLAs ahead of the trust vote in October last year, Bhardwaj sent a special report on May 15 recommending President’s rule.

 

Virtually snubbing him, the Centre again rejected his report and chose to send an advisory to the Yeddyurappa government on various issues including repeated instances of corruption and illegal mining besides alleged discrimination against minorities.
The Centre’s advisory has attracted criticism from Yeddyurappa and other BJP leaders.