Karnataka throws up vital questions

Patna: Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Tuesday questioned the Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala’s move to call the BJP to form the government after the BJP emerged as the single-largest party there.

“After the JDU’s betrayal of mandate in Bihar 10 months ago, the RJD was and is the single largest party but we were not called by the governor to form the government. I waited and sat on a dharna outside the governor’s house for hours with our MLAs till 2am but didn’t get time to meet him. Let’s see what happens in Karnataka,” he said.

Tejashwi was referring to the July 27, 2017, episode when Nitish went to the Raj Bhavan and submitted his resignation to then acting governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and was back at the Governor House four hours later to stake claim again to form the government. A drama followed when Tejashwi and RJD MLAs marched to the Raj Bhavan demanding time from the Governor to stake claim to form the government.

The Karnataka results were watched with considerable interest in the RJD though there is no love lost for H.D. Deve Gowda whom the party holds responsible for the fodder scam cases against Lalu Prasad. “Since the BJP is our main enemy we hope the JDS and the Congress will not let the saffron party to come to power,” said a senior RJD MLA.

The JDU, which contested 28 seats in Karnataka, however, issued a loaded statement.

“The Karnataka results prove that India is a multi-religion and multi-cultured country. National parties cannot ignore regional aspirations,” said JDU MLC Neeraj Kumar, adding that his party had contested 28 seats to expand its organisation and base.

“We never claimed that we would form a government or emerge as a major force,” he added.

Sources in the JDU said the Congress had paid the price for its “arrogance” of not aligning with the JDS.

“Had they made a pre-poll alliance, this political uncertainty would not have come about. The same warning goes to the BJP too. Of late it has shown arrogance and several of its allies such as the TDP and Shiv Sena have turned hostile,” said another senior JDU leader, adding that the Karnataka result should be an eye-opener for the BJP on how it should treat its allies,” he said.

In Bihar, the BJP is in alliance with the JDU, LJP and RLSP. The trio had a meeting recently and there will be pressure on the BJP to give its allies more space.

At present, the BJP has 22 sitting MPs in the Lok Sabha and if the traditional formula is applied only 18 seats remain between the three allies. The Karnataka results have given hope to the allies that the BJP will be more generous in 2019.

Courtesy: The Telegraph