Thursday, January 19 2006 14:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: Uncertainty continued to dog the fate of the Congress Janata Dal (JD) Secular (S) coalition government headed by Dharam Singh in Karnataka today (Jan 19,2006) after the withdrawal of support to itby the JDS rebels led by H D Kumaraswamy, son of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.

No word had yet come out of the Raj Bhavan on the decision of the Governor, T N Chaturvedi, on the letter given by the JDS rebels communicating withdrawal of support by 46 MLAs and on their combined claim with BJP for formation of an alternative Government.

Seeking to build pressure for an early decision,legislators of BJP and the JDS rebel faction today boycotted the Governor's address to the joint session of the state legislature, contending that the Congress-JDS coalition had been reduced to a minority and had no moral right to continue.

Just before the session began, a BJP delegation, including party senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu, also urged the Governor not to go ahead with his address, which they said had been prepared by a government which had lost its majority.

The BJP delegation met the Governor again after his address and urged him to advise the Chief Minister to step down or to prove his majority within 24 hours by tomorrow, Naidu told sources.

Naidu said the question of giving a 'reasonable time' to the Chief Minister did not arise now as the assembly was in session and they explained to the Governor that the ruling party also might resort to 'foulplay'.