Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya formula now ‘poison’ for BJP: Congress

Panaji : Bulldozing government formation, despite not having adequate numbers in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya in the past, has proved to be “poison” for the BJP in Karnataka, a Goa Congress leader said on Wednesday.

The remarks of state Congress president Girish Chodankar came as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), despite emerging the single-largest party, is faced with a tough battle against the post-poll alliance of the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S).

“Medicine of BJP in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya has become poison for them in Karnataka. BJP should study its arguments in the Supreme Court during Goa government’s formation… They had justified Goa government formation claiming BJP had the highest percentage of votes,” Chodankar told reporters on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, South Goa MP Narendra Savoikar said that it was unfair to compare the post-poll scenario in Karnataka to what transpired in Goa in March 2017.

The BJP had won 13 seats in the 2017 state assembly election compared to the 17 seats won by the Congress, which had emerged as the single largest party. But after swift political manoeuvring, the BJP staked claimed to power with two regional parties and independent MLAs and formed its coalition government after getting the nod from Goa Governor Mridula Sinha.

In Karnataka, despite the BJP emerging as the single-largest party with 104 seats, the Congress (78) and the JD-S (37) cobbled together an alliance and staked claim to form the government.

However, on Wednesday evening, Governor Vajubhai R. Vala invited the BJP’s B.S. Yeddyurappa to form the government in the southern state.

Published on: May 16, 2018 at 21:56 IST

IANS