Political battle brews between K'taka govt and Guv Gehlot

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: The Karnataka gover nment on Thursday "strongly advised" Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to withdraw the show cause notice he issued to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam', and alleged that it was part of a concerted effort to destabilise the Congress regime.

The Council of Ministers discussed the show cause notice, and alleged that it was a "gross misuse of the Constitutional Office' of the governor and said that a concerted effort is being made to destabilise a lawfully elected majority government in Karnataka for political considerations.

Based on a petition filed by advocate-activist T J Abraham, the governor issued the notice on July 26 directing the chief minister to submit his reply to the allegations against him within seven days justifying why permission to prosecute him should not be granted.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Council of Ministers, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the governor failed to take note of the fact that Abraham has criminal antecedents, including cases of blackmail and extortion registered against him.

Shivakumar said it expressed the view that the governor, in issuing the show cause notice, has acted in undue haste, circumventing all procedural requirements.

He described the governor's decision as a "murder of democracy and the Constitution'. "There is no case for prosecution here," Shivakumar asserted.