Citing Karnataka, Congress stakes claim to form government in Goa, Meghalaya

As the Karnataka Governor’s decision made way for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form government in the state on grounds of being the single largest party, the Congress in Goa and Meghalaya is attempting to steal a similar deal for itself from the situation. 

The Congress Goa unit will appeal to the state governor, seeking an invitation to form the government, more than one year after the elections.

“In 2017, we won 17 seats & were the single largest party and continue to be but Governor chose to invite the BJP which had 13 seats. In Karnataka, Governor invited BJP as they are the single largest party. So, we appeal to Governor to invite us to form the government,” said state Congress leader Yatish Naik.

According to the sources, Goa Congress in-charge Chella Kumar, along with other party leaders will leave for Goa on Thursday. Kumar will meet the Goa Governor along with party MLAs to stake claim to form government on the grounds of being the single largest party.

Citing the Yeddyurappa example, Meghalaya Congress was also mulling to stake claim to form the government being the single largest party in the state.

The voices against the BJP’s “illegal” way of coming to power in Karnataka were also being raised in several other states, including Bihar and Tamil Nadu.

“All of us saw how PM Modi misused the office of Governor in Tamil Nadu. The same has been done in Karnataka. This is totally against democracy and rule of law. We condemn it,” DMK’s working president M K Stalin said.

Former Bihar deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also criticised the BJP for its dictatorship and asked Opposition parties to unite against the saffron party.

“We are not only the single largest party but also the single largest block. The governor should have given us the right to form the government. This is a black day for democracy. I want to appeal to all opposition parties to unite against BJP’s dictatorship,” Yadav said.

Meanwhile, Congress has issued a notice to all Pradesh Congress Committees, leaders and party workers to organise state-wide protests at state capital and district headquarters against the Karnataka Governor’s decision to invite BJP to form government in the state.

Both the BJP, which fell short of the majority but emerged as the single largest party in a hung House and the Congress, which stitched a post-poll alliance with the JD-S, had staked claims to form the government in the southern state.

While the Congress-JD-S alliance had the support of more than 112 MLAs, the BJP had only 104 MLAs, eight short of the required numbers to form the government. However, the government invited BJP’s Yeddyurappa and asked him to prove majority on the floor of the house.