Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has said that the Congress, which has emerged as the single largest party in the Goa and Manipur Assembly Elections, should be invited to form the government and Governors of these two States should allow for a level playing field in the formation of governments in these States.
Talking to The Hindu in Kalaburagi on Sunday, Mr. Kharge said that the verdict in both Goa and Manipur were a vote against the BJP and although no party gained absolute majority in both the States, the verdict was sound and clearly in favour of the Congress.
The Governors of both states should discharge their constitutional duties and not succumb to the pressure of the Union government as was done in Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur in the past.
They should not allow the BJP to indulge in arm-twisting tactics and in horse-trading, Mr. Kharge added. He criticised the statement of BJP president Amit Shah that the BJP would form the governments in Goa and Manipur despite the fact that the Congress had emerged as a single largest party.
On the verdict of the Assembly Elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Goa, Mr. Kharge said that the result was not against just the Congress, but against all secular forces. These results signal the rise of the fundamental forces and give weight to the divisive activities of forces like the RSS and Sangh Pariwar.
He added that the division of the secular votes had also helped the BJP win the elections in Uttar Pradesh. The polarisation of the secular forces was the need of the hour to put a halt to these forces.
