Home Ministry against President’s rule in Karnataka?

The Home Ministry was not in agreement with Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj?s suggestion of imposing President?s rule in the state and has advised the Prime Minister?s office against it, media reports said on Friday.

Sources in P Chidambaram?s Ministry reportedly said that it disagreed with Bhardwaj?s report, in which the governor suggested imposing President?s rule in Karnataka by disbanding Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa?s government, citing a ?constitutional breakdown?.

The report had come in the wake of a Supreme Court order last Friday that overturned the suspension of Karnataka legislators who had rebelled against the Yeddyurappa government ahead of critical trust vote last year.

The suspension, ordered by speaker K G Bopaiah, of the 16 MLAs – 11 from Yeddyurappa?s own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and five independents – had allowed the Chief Minister to scrape through the vote and save his government from toppling.

But once their suspensions were overturned on May 13, the Yeddyurappa government found itself in a soup and the BJP held frantic negotiations to win over the rebel MLAs. They finally succeeded on Sunday by promising the legislators ministerial posts and other perks.

Bhardwaj, who shares a publicly bitter relationship with Yeddyurappa, had rallied against the Chief Minister and submitted a report to the Centre, calling for imposing President?s rule which led to heated exchanges between the BJP and him.

The BJP in Karnataka, beefed by the renewed backing of 16 legislators who had earlier rebelled, slammed the governor?s call for President?s rule in Karnataka as illegal, unconstitutional and “a murder of democracy.”

The coalition government at the Centre, which is led by the BJP’s adversary Congress party, too trod carefully and seemed non-committal over the governor?s report and appeal to establish President?s rule.

The Home Ministry recommendation now seems to further weaken Bhardwaj?s stance, who was panned by India’s top constitutional experts for what they called “acting like an errand boy of the Congress” to dislodge a government enjoying full support of majority.

The final call on the matter is now to be taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh?s office, but it analysts said that seems unlikely the PMO will go against the Home Ministry?s recommendation, thus tilting the Yeddyurappa-Bhardwaj clash in favour of the Chief Minister for now.