Bengaluru, Aug. 9 -- A delegation of the Karnataka BJP has petitioned Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot, seeking strict constitutional and legal action against Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and other ruling party leaders over what it alleged was the forced resignation of Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti.

The BJP delegation met the Governor at Raj Bhavan on Sunday, August 9, and alleged that democratic institutions and constitutional values had been undermined in Karnataka.

It claimed that Shivakumar, along with KPCC president B.K. Hariprasad, Legislative Council members Saleem Ahmed, S. Ravi and others, visited Horatti's official chamber and exerted intense political pressure on him for more than 90 minutes.

According to the...