Now even the Supreme Court's seal is
on it that the Congress got complacent and took matters lightly in Goa and
Manipur, the two states where it had emerged as the largest party but missed
the bus to stake claims. The obvious consequence to it is that a BJP chief
minister has taken oath in Goa and the party's government will be formed in
Manipur with the swearing-in scheduled for tomorrow.
While hearing a Congress petition
against the oath-taking ceremony of Manohar Parrikar in Goa, a special Supreme
Court bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar took the Congress to task for reacting
late and refused to stay Parrikar's swearing-in. The top court observed that a
'simple floor test' can take care of issues raised in the petition. As directed
by the Supreme Court, Manohar Parrikar led BJP government will have to prove its
majority in the House on March 16.
On the counting day, after the BJP's
massive victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and impressive show in
Uttarakhand, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had some words of advice for
the BJP leadership. He tweeted that the BJP was in power in two of the five
states where elections were held and it lost both and therefore the party
‘shouldn’t be too complacent for 2019’ when the next parliamentary polls will
be held.
But it seems, the Congress leadership
got complacent with the poll results as it failed to move before the BJP in
staking claims to form governments even if Amit Shah, the BJP president, had
announced after the results came in that the BJP was going to form government
in four states, i.e., Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
GOA
Even though Digvijay Singh, Goa
in-charge of the Congress party, has been camping in Goa, the party failed to
make its move and arrange numbers to stake claim. While the Congress was still
contemplating its moves, the BJP met Goa Governor Mridula Sinha with a list 21
MLAs to stake its claim to form the government in the state with Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar as its chief minister. Now he is back as CM and the
BJP is claiming to have support of 23 MLAs. This is a point where the Congress
clearly failed, a fact highlighted by the Supreme Court, which said the
Congress didn't approach the Governor or the Supreme Court with its list and
affidavits of the supporting MLAs.
Parrikar had resigned from the CM
position in November 2014 to join Narendra Modi's union cabinet. This will be
his fourth term as Goa’s chief minister. His first two terms were from 2000 to
2002 and from 2002 to 2005.
The BJP, the incumbents in the state,
won 13 assembly seats this time, four less than Congress' 17. To prove majority
in the 40-member Goa House, support of 21 members was needed. Congress needed
four MLAs to scale the gap while the BJP needed eight. And the BJP arranged its
eight before the Congress could garner support of four MLAs.
The BJP claims to have support of
three MLAs each of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the Goa Forward
Party (GFP), two independents and lone NCP MLA. Then there are reports that
some Congress MLAs are ready to defect to join the BJP. That the Congress has
resigned to its fate becomes clear from its Goa in-charge Digvijay Singh's
reaction, who was earlier claiming to form the government, was quoted saying
that the Congress was ready to sit in Opposition if the BJP had the numbers.
Today, in an interview with a channel, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath
accepted that the Congress was slow to act in Goa and Manipur and better
chalked-out plans were needed.
The Congress' hara-kiri is evident
from the fact that some of the newly elected Congress MLAs have blamed the
senior Congress leaders of 'indecisiveness' even if it had the mandate to stake
claim first, an unacceptable delay that gave the BJP enough time to play its
cards. Congress Valopi MLA Vishwajit Rane, who is son of the former CM
Pratapsingh Rane, felt so letdown that he left the party saying he was
'disillusioned' with the party after its 'shameful handling of the mandate'.
MANIPUR
Manipur is the second state that is a
missed opportunity for the Congress. Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla has
invited the BJP leader N Biren Singh to form the government and his oath-taking
ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow.
The Congress has been in power in the
state since 2002 and even this time it emerged as the largest party winning 28
seats in the 60-member house. But the BJP's performance is stunning here. The
party that had not been able to open its account in the last polls in 2012, has
emerged as the second largest party in this polls, winning 21 seats. But what
is more remarkable is the fact that its vote share at 36.3% is more than
Congress' 35.1%, something that gives it the largest representation in the
state. From 2.12% in 2012 to 36.3% in 2017, this is huge.
And thanks to the indecisiveness
shown by the Congress here as well, the swift moves made by the BJP gave it the
necessary edge and Imphal is going to have a BJP government next.
Both the BJP and the Congress are
making claims and counterclaims. But certainly, the BJP has outsmarted the
Congress in making first moves, be it parading the supporting MLAs before the
Governor or holding joint presser with the National People’s Party (NPP). The
Congress also claimed to have the NPP support but it was refuted by NPP chief
Conrad Sangma.
In the 60-member strong Manipur
legislative assembly, a simple house majority needs support of 31 MLAs. In a
quick move, on March 12, the BJP approached the Governor with a delegation of MLAs
including four NPP MLAs, lone MLA of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), lone TMC
MLA and a Congress MLA who had defected. The BJP delegation also handed over a
letter of support from the Naga People's Front (NPF), an NDA alliance partner.
After it, Manipur chief minister
Okram Ibobi Singh, like waking from a slumber, rushed to the Governor House to
stake claim. He showed a letter on a plain paper with names of four NPP
legislators in Congress’ support which was later junked by the NPP. Also, it is
believed that the Governor asked Ibobi Singh to parade the four NPP MLAs to
validate his claims. Then there are reports that around a dozen Congress MLAs
are ready to defect to the BJP fold.
Sources say the Governor wanted to
meet the four NPF MLAs personally before taking any decision. Today, NPF MLAs
met the Governor and reiterated their party's support for the BJP. That
validated the count of 32 MLAs in BJP's support. After it, the Governor invited
the BJP to form the government.
DESPERATE LAST DITCH EFFORTS
In its last ditch effort, the
Congress had moved to the Supreme Court challenging the invitation to Manohar
Parrikar to form the government. But if we go by the Constitution's interpretation
of experts, inviting the largest party is more of a convention and the Governor
is not bound to follow it if another political formation convinces him of
having the required numbers.
It is left to the Governor's discretion
and wisdom to ensure that a stable government is formed, be it by the single
largest party or a coalition of other parties, a fact reiterated by the Supreme
Court during today's hearing. The top court said that though it has become a
Constitutional convention to invite the single largest party, the preference
goes to them who show stable numbers.
Rapidly changing political
developments have proved Shashi Tharoor wrong. It is not the BJP, but the
Congress that has lost two states, i.e., Manipur and Uttarakhand. And unlike
the BJP which lost one in Punjab, to gain four states in its fold, it could
gain just one, i.e., Punjab. With these developments, the BJP and its allies
now have governments in 17 states while the Congress and its allies have shrunk
to just seven states.
©SantoshChaubey