Soon after the election results were out on Saturday, the BJP scaled up efforts to cobble together a majority in Manipur and Goa.
Despite being the single largest party in both States, the Congress did not seem to have a counter-strategy ready.
While party president Sonia Gandhi is abroad for medical treatment, vice-president Rahul Gandhi has not spelt out his response to the fast-paced developments.
Abduction drama
Though party communication department chief Randeep Surjewala tweeted that the BJP had “whisked away” an MLA from Manipur, there was no word from Mr. Gandhi’s Twitter handle.
“BJP now misusing CISF & Airport authorities to detain & abduct Independent MLA, Asabuddin at Imphal Airport and take him to Calcutta,” Mr. Surjewala tweeted. “Modi Govt is playing a dangerous game of subverting democracy & abducting MLAs by misusing CISF at Imphal Airport despite electoral loss,” he said.
While there was no word from the Central leadership, Congress leaders said Digvijaya Singh as Goa in-charge and C.P. Joshi as Manipur in-charge were closely following developments.
“In our system, it is the responsibility of the State in-charge to look into government formation,” a Congress leader who did not wish to be identified, said.
Another leader, however, said the general secretary in charge of a State and other central observers take part in legislature party meetings in such matters, while staying in touch with the Central leadership.
Mandate talk
Meanwhile, BJP leader Ram Madhav said the mandate was against the Congress in Manipur. In Manipur, the BJP won 21 seats, seven behind the ruling Congress. Thirty-one seats are needed to form the government.
In the 40-member Goa Assembly, the BJP bagged 13 and the Congress 17. The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) won three seats and the NCP one. The MGP, which had severed ties with the Congress before the polls, said it would support a BJP government.
