Saturday, January 28 2006 14:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Mounting pressure for the dismissal of the Dharam Singh government in Karnataka, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (Jan 28,2006) said his continuation in office was against all 'political ethics' and demanded his immediate removal as Chief Minister.

"We demand that the Karnataka Governor should sack the Congress-led government in Karnataka as it has failed to prove its majority in the given time," BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad told reporters here.

"We thought Congress will learn lessons from Bihar and Jharkhand, but the Karnataka episode shows that it is not the case," he said.

Prasad said, "Dharam Singh is clinging to the chair defying the mandate of the people as well as all political ethics."

Chief Minister Dharam Singh failed last night to secure a confidence vote on the floor of the Karnataka Assembly even as he requested Governor T N Chaturvedi to give him another chance to show his strength in the house.

When asked about the future actions he said, "We expect the Governor will act soon and sack Singh. We will decide our course of action after it."

On the Iran nuclear issue, Prasad said that under no circumstances should the country's autonomy in foreign policy must come under a cloud.

He added that the party would soon issue a detailed statement on the issue.