Congress leader Digvijaya Singh raised the question of the role of the Governors of Goa and Manipur in government formation in the two States again in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, seeking to know the status of the substantive motion under Rule 168 that he had moved on Friday.
Mr. Singh requested that the matter be taken up without delay.
“We would request you to kindly look into it. How democracy has been murdered in Manipur and Goa,” Mr. Singh said amid interruptions. “The role of the Governor has been totally unjustified, has gone against the Constitution, has gone against the principles of democracy ... has gone against the guidelines of the Sarkaria Commission. In a fractured mandate, it has been the practice to invite the single largest party for the first time.”
Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien said that his request was “under consideration”.
Prasad’s objection
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad requested Mr. Kurien to take the expression “murder of democracy” off the records. It, however, stayed on the records when the verbatim proceedings were uploaded on the Rajya Sabha website.
Congress leader Anand Sharma wondered if the treasury benches would now decide what the Opposition would speak.
Mr. Prasad said “the in-house problem of the Congress Party should not be shifted to the Governor”.
Mr. Singh raised the issue even on Friday, when Mr. Kurien had reminded him that the role of the Governor could be discussed only under a substantive motion.
