Cong, RJD to stake claim to govt in four other states

NEW DELHI: Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala seems to have opened Pandora's box after inviting BJP, the single-largest party, to form a government in the state, Opposition parties are demanding that the governors of four other states — Goa, Bihar, Meghalaya and Manipur — should invite them to stake claim to the government as they were the single-largest parties in last assembly polls held in these states.

While the Congress announced it would be meeting Goa governor Mridula Sinha to ask him to invite the party to stake claim to the government, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also asked the Bihar governor Satya Pal Malik to dissolve the assembly and invite his party to form a government in the state.

Later in the day, opposition parties in two more states stake claim to form the government. Former Manipur CM Okram Ibobi Singh and former Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma sought time from respective governors of the state for a meeting on Friday.

In Goa's 2017 assembly election, Congress was the single-largest party with 21 seats in the 40-seat assembly, however, it was the BJP through a post-poll alliance that ended up forming the government, In Bihar, the RJD was the single-largest party with 80 seats in the 243-seat assembly in the 2015 assembly election, but it ended up in the opposition.

In Manipur assembly elections, the Congress was three short of the majority mark with 28 seats in the 60-seat assembly. The saffron party, with 21 seats, joined hands with National People's Party (four seats), Naga People's Front (four seats) and the Lok Janshakti Party (one seat) to form the first BJP government in the state.

In Meghalaya, Congress was the largest party with 21 seats, followed by National People's Party (NPP) with 19 seats in the assembly polls held in 2017. NPP's Conrad Sangma formed the government with the support of 34 MLAs.

According to reports, Congress's Goa in-charge Chella Kumar on Thursday said he along with more leaders would meet the governor of Goa and ask him to invite his party to form the government. The party is also planning to parade its 17 MLAs at the governor house, according to a source.

Soon after, in an apparent show of unity against the events unfolding in Karnataka, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav followed suit, asking governor Satya Pal Malik to dissolve the Bihar assembly and invite RJD on account of it being the single-largest party in the state.