In a ripple effect of Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala’s decision to invite the BJP as the single largest party to form the government, Congress leaders in Goa and Manipur met their respective State Governors and staked claim to form the government as did Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejaswi Yadav in Bihar.
Former Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and senior Congress leaders met Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi at the Raj Bhavan in Imphal. “We demanded dismissal of the BJP-led coalition government as we were denied a chance to form the government despite emerging as the single largest party with 28 seats (in the 2017 Assembly election),” Mr. Singh said after the meeting.
Citing the Karnataka example, Mr. Singh said had the Congress been given a chance by Governor Najma Heptulla then, he could have proved the majority within a few days. “We can prove our majority now, if invited,” he claimed.
In 2017, the Congress bagged 28 seats in the 60-member Manipur Assembly. The BJP won 21 seats but cobbled up a coalition with regional parties but needed “defectors” from the Congress to make the number. Of the 28 Congress MLAs, eight shifted loyalty to the BJP without resigning from their constituencies in what legal experts say is a violation of the Tenth Schedule.
In Goa
After meeting Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, Leader of the Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, who was accompanied by 13 party MLAs, said a representation had been submitted requesting the Governor to “right the past wrong” of inviting the BJP to form the government in March 2017, and now invite the 16-member Congress legislative party to form the government instead.
The BJP had won 13 seats in the February 2017 state assembly election as against 17 won by the Congress, which had emerged as the single largest party in the 40-member house. The BJP staked the claim to power with two regional outfits and independent MLAs, and formed a coalition government after getting a prompt nod from Ms. Sinha.
‘A principled stand’
In Patna, Mr. Yadav, who is also Leader of Opposition in State Assembly, met Governor Satya Pal Malik, accompanied by leaders of the mahagathbandhan — the Congress, Hindustani Awam Morcha and CPI(ML), and staked claim to form government on the basis of the “principled stand taken by the Karnataka Governor”.
RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav addresses journalists after meeting the Governor in Raj Bhavan, Patna, on May 18, 2018.
“We met the Governor and submitted a memorandum stating that we have support of 111 MLAs. The Governor heard our submission with patience and said he would think over it,” Mr Yadav told reporters outside Raj Bhawan after the meeting. A large number of RJD and Congress MLAs had gathered outside the Raj Bhawan but only few were called in to meet the Governor.
In the 243-member Bihar Assembly RJD is the single-largest party with 80 MLAs, Congress has 27, the HAM(S) one and CPI-ML three while, ruling alliance partners JD(U) has 71 MLAs, the BJP 53, the Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party two MLAs each.
Mr. Yadav said, “The point we’re trying to make is that there has to be one rule in the country…if the Karnataka Governor’s decision to invite the BJP as the single largest party was proper, then the same yardstick should be applied to Bihar also...RJD is not only single largest party but a single block of pre-poll alliance.”
