The Karnataka elections have thrown a fractured verdict. Fortunately, this is not the first such verdict in India’s electoral history. There are constitutional provisions and precedents for the governor to follow in such cases. Governor Vajubhai followed the rule book, relied on Sarkaria Commission and invited the single largest party, the BJP, to form the government. Accordingly, CM candidate of the BJP, BS Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka, yesterday. According to Sarkaria commission constituted in 1983, the governor should select a chief minister from among the following parties or group of parties, in case no single party reaches the clear majority mark.
The first preference should be given to an alliance of parties that was formed prior to the elections. Secondly, the largest single party staking a claim to form the government with the support of others, including ‘independents’ should be invited to form the government. The third preference is given to a post-electoral coalition of parties, with all the partners in the coalition joining the government. And lastly, a post-electoral alliance of parties, with some of the parties in the alliance forming a government and the remaining parties, including ‘independents’ supporting the government from outside.
According to constitution expert Subhash Kashyap “It is entirely up to the governor to appoint anyone he thinks proper. The governor is, however, expected to be guided by his assessment of who is likely to command majority support in the House. So, he is expected to appoint only that person as chief minister who, in his opinion, is likely to command majority support.”
In light of this, it can be said that Governor Vajubhai Vala has upheld the constitutional values and has done the right thing by inviting the BJP to form the government in Karnataka. At last, it all depends upon the discretion of the Governor. BJP’s track record in running the government despite not having full majority is also good. Be it in Goa, Meghalaya, Manipur and Bihar also, BJP is running coalition government in respective states successfully. Congress formed Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and that bubble had burst in a very short period of time. It is imperative for every state to have a stable government that can run the state. In Karnataka, Congress and JD(S) formed post-poll alliance but during election campaign they were attacking each other in their respective rallies. Rahul Gandhi said ‘S’ in JD(S) stands for ‘Sangh’ and not for secular. He had gone to the extent of calling JD(S) ‘B-Team’ of the BJP which supports BJP through back door.
In fact, Siddaramaiah lost his Chamundeshawari seat to a JD(S) candidate. JD(S) candidates have almost won all the seats where they fought against Congress candidates. So, post-poll alliance and unconditional support of Congress to JD(S) is just an attempt to stop BJP and not give an honest, stable and corruption free government to the people of Karnataka.
According to a Times of India report, the Congress believed it would emerge as the single largest party in Karnataka and wanted to stake claim on that basis. Fearing it might not be given a chance, they had drafted a petition for the SC stating that the first right was to go the single largest party. However, upon the Karnataka people’s rejection, they have made a complete U-turn questioning how it is that the SLP is getting a chance. The palpable hypocrisy of the Congress is only surpassed by its thirst for power.
Taking Axis exit poll seriously which gave them SLP , Congress drafted SC plea for largest party to be invited first … but after results they changed tacked
The grounds made out in Congis first petition will now be the defence of BJP 🤣😂 pic.twitter.com/KqFaTguvOM— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) May 18, 2018
Today, the Congress is using what happened in Goa to show that two different rules were followed in government formation. But, this is not true because it’s the governor’s prerogative, and so far the decisions taken by various governors have resulted in stable state governments. But the Congress has used Goa nonetheless in their baseless argument. Also, in Goa, they never staked claim to form the government. From all this very clear that Congress is crying foul and there is no substance in their arguments.