Congress, RJD demand ‘Vala Principle’ in Goa, North East & Bihar

NEW DELHI/PANAJI/PATNA/IMPHAL: If the Karnataka governor was right in inviting Yeddyurappa to form a minority government as BJP was the largest party, Congress should be invited to form the governments in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya and RJD in Bihar, the two parties have demanded.

Leaders of the Congress in Goa and Manipur and the RJD in Bihar, largest party in the respective states, said in each of the state capitals that they would approach state governors soon and stake claim to form a government.

The contentions were meant to highlight the contradiction in the stands taken by governors of each of the state vis-à-vis Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala and to show that BJP’s arguments on government formation were a matter of convenience.

Goa Congress Legislature Party leader Chandrakant Kavlekar said the party would stake claim on Friday by submitting to governor Mridula Sinha a formal letter containing signatures of all 16 party MLAs. The governor has given 12 noon for the meeting the Congress leaders. In the 40 member-House, the Congress needs 21 MLAs to secure a majority. In Bengaluru, Vala had invited BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa to form the government despite his party not having a majority, on the principle it was the largest party. Congress had bagged 17 seats in the 40-member Goa House, falling short of the majority.

One MLA later resigned and joined the BJP, which with 14 MLAs struck an alliance with Goa Forward Party and MGP, with three seats each and three Independents, and formed the government. Kavlekar said the Goa governor should follow the precedent set by Vala and now invite the single largest party to form the government “correcting her mistake of March 12, 2017”.

Congress leaders in Manipur and Meghalaya too made similar statements.

In Patna, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said his party would request the Bihar governor to invite the largest party, the RJD, to form the next government after dismissing the Nitish Kumar government.

Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar assembly, told reporters in Patna he has sought an appointment with governor Satyapal Malik on Friday before whom “we wish to submit that there cannot be double standards.” The JDU-BJP alliance have 131 seats in the 243 assembly.

However, RJD is the largest party with 80 MLAs. Yadav said if the BJP was invited by the Karnataka governor to form the government on the grounds that it was the largest party, then the RJD also had the right to form the government.

Courtesy: ET Bureau