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Bangalore: Karnataka on Friday night appeared heading for a showdown with Governor H R Bhardwaj granting sanction for prosecution of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on corruption charges and a defiant CM asking him to apologise for remarks against the BJP government.

 
The stand off came to a head with the Governor first rejecting a state cabinet resolution asking him not to permit prosecution of the Chief Minister and later Raj Bhawan sources said that the sanction has been granted for Yeddyurappa as also Home Minister R Ashoka.

Stung by Bhardwaj’s remarks, the ruling party went into a more aggressive mode announcing state-wide anti-Governor protests tomorrow and "Raj Bhavan chalo" on January 25, besides deciding to meet President Pratibha Patil in Delhi on January 24 to seek the Governor’s recall.

Hitting back at Yeddyurappa, the Governor told him bluntly in a letter that he cannot "put a lid" on serious allegations of corruption and dismissed as "unwarranted" the January 19 cabinet resolution.

"The sum and substance of the Cabinet decision is that it simply requires me to put a lid on the serious allegations of corruption against you (chief minister)," said Bhardwaj, whose relationship with the BJP government is becoming increasingly turbulent.

The cabinet resolution had asked the Governor to drop the proceedings to prosecute Yeddyurappa and Home Minister R Ashoka on alleged land scams on the basis of a complaint filed by lawyers’ forum, saying such a move was nothing short of a "farce and colourable" exercise on his part.

An angry Chief Minister sought an "unconditional apology" from Bhardwaj for characterising the state government’s request to drop proceedings for his prosecution as a "case of a thief admonishing a policeman".

"For his remarks, he (Bhardwaj) should tender an unconditional apology. He has insulted the people of the state," Yeddyurappa told reporters before the state BJP Core Committee and Executive meet to discuss how to deal with the Governor.