Karnataka Effect: Single Largest Party Congress Stakes Claim To Form Government In Goa

Seeking adoption of the Karnataka example in Goa, the Congress today decided to stake claim to form government in the state where it had emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly polls held last year.

Congress Legislature Party chief Chandrakant Kavlekar said that the party will stake claim tomorrow by submitting a formal letter containing signatures of all the 16 party MLAs to Governor Mridula Sinha.

In the Assembly elections held in March last year, the Congress had bagged 17 seats in the 40-member House, falling short of the majority figure by four seats. The BJP, which won 14 seats, formed the government in alliance with the Goa Forward Party and MGP, both of which had secured three seats each. Three Independent candidates also went with the BJP.

Kavlekar said that the Goa Governor should follow the precedent set by her Karnataka counterpart and invite the single largest party to form the government “correcting her mistake of March 2017.”

He was referring to the decision of Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to invite the BJP to form the government after the Assembly election results declared on Wednesday.

The BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in the 222-member Karnataka Assembly, was invited by the governor despite the JD(S)-Congress alliance staking claim by citing the support of 117 MLAs. The majority mark is 112 seats.

When pointed out that the Congress needs support of at least 21 legislators to stake the claim, he said that once the governor swears in the Congress chief minister, he will be able to prove his majority on the floor of the House.

“The numbers will have to be proven on the floor of the House and we have that with us,” he said. However, he did not specify how the party would muster majority.

Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar also echoed his view, saying that the governors can't have two different set of rules. “While in Karnataka the governor has invited single largest party, in Goa too, the same precedent should be followed,” he added. The Congress is now giving an “opportunity to Goa governor to rectify the mistake which she made last year”, Chodankar said.

The BJP-led government in Goa is headed by Manohar Parrikar, who is currently undergoing treatment in the U.S. for a pancreatic ailment. Kavlekar said that in absence of the chief minister in the state since last two months, there is no government in place. “The Congress will be able to provide a stable government in Goa,” the CLP leader added.