Hitting out at the Congress Party and its complaint that the Bharatiya Janta Party has “stolen the mandate in Goa”, Defence and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said the Governor in Goa had only one claim of 21 MLAs out of 40 elected MLAs, with Manohar Parrikar as their leader.
“The 17 MLAs of Congress did not even make a claim nor elected their leader. How could the Congress ever be invited to form the Government,” he questioned in a post on Facebook titled “largest single party versus a combination with majority support”.
Noting that the Congress Party “complains a bit too much”, he further said it “unsuccessfully” petitioned before the Supreme Court and also attempted to raise issues in the Lok Sabha.
Jaitley noted that the assembly elections in Goa produced an inconclusive verdict and a Hung Assembly.
“Obviously in a Hung Assembly post-poll alliances will be formed. The BJP managed to form an alliance and presented to the Governor 21 out of 40 MLAs. They appeared before the Governor in person and submitted a letter of support,” he said, while noting that the Congress did not even submit a claim to the Governor.
He said there have been several precedents that support the decision of the Governor. Further, “The debate between the largest single party lacking majority versus a combination of parties constituting a majority was answered by the former President K.R. Narayanan in his communiqué in March 1988 when he invited Atal Behari Vajpayee to form the Government,” Jaitley said.