Team Herald
PANJIM: “Who has the people’s mandate in Karnataka? The BJP, which has won 104 seats or Congress which dropped to 78 seats, whose own CM and Ministers lost by big margins?” this is what BJP National President Amit Shah tweeted on Thursday morning. Imagine if the same question was asked to him a year earlier after the Goa results.
The electoral result for Congress in Karnataka is a reflection of the result for the BJP in Goa in the 2017 polls. The saffron party in Goa was reduced to 13 (now 14) from 21 with its Chief Minister and four of his Ministers losing with big margins. Congress emerged as single largest party with 17 (currently 16) seats and continue to be the largest party till date.
The stark contradiction in its views and misuse of Governors by BJP stands exposed when situations in Karnataka and Goa are juxtaposed against each other. The BJP, which spoke about numbers while staking claim to form the government in Goa now speaks the language of party with most seats in Karnataka – a different argument as per their political convenience.
Herald spoke to political and constitutional experts to diagnose the situation in Karnataka against the one in Goa. Experts lambasted BJP for its double standards and murder of the Indian Constitution. Sorry, they believe it is an insult to the Indian Constitution.
Goa’s leading constitutional expert Cleofato Almeida Coutinho poses the biggest question as to how there can be a different set of constitutional rules for different States. “There is absolutely no justification to that. In our country, we have anti-defection law and it is the duty of the Governor to protect the Constitution from defection. BJP had the mandate but not majority and unless they make mince meat of anti-defection, they cannot succeed,” he said.
Talking about precedents, he said there are different precedents set by BJP when it comes to Manipur, Goa, Meghalaya and Karnataka. “It is a gross abuse of constitutional power. A well-planned conspiracy to destroy the Constitution by making use of government machinery,” he commented.
Former Law Commissioner Adv Ramakant Khalap said it is unfortunate to see, how mandates are misused. “There are different sets of yardsticks in different states. Though BJP had the mandate, they did not have the number to prove majority and on the other hand the Congress and JD(S) post poll alliance had shown the number to the Governor and hence it was incumbent upon the Governor to invite the coalition partners to form the government as they did in Goa,” he said.
“When in Goa, the Governor did not invite the single largest party to stake claim, how come in Karnataka the party that emerged as single largest, was allowed to form the government and its leader sworn in as Chief Minister?” questions Khalap.
“Who is wrong here? And who will say that? BJP has set a very bad precedent, absolutely against the verdict of democracy in both States,” he added.
Khalap said the developments in Karnataka are the “death knell of healthy democracy in the country.”
“Modi emerged as a tall leader and democratic countries across the globe are looking at India for healthy democratic discussions. Bu what have we done? We have murdered democracy. Are we at all respectful to what we have done? Modi’s image is also heavily dented,” he stated.
Khalap urged the President of India to call all the Governors and set a code of conduct and procedure to invite the single largest party to form the government.
As against the claim of BJP that Congress in Goa never staked claim to form the government; the party claims it did, saying it had paraded all 17 MLAs before the Governor, who even before this had invited Manohar Parrikar to form the government.
The saffron party’s act has not gone down well with its own senior leader Dr Wilfred Mesquita, who had distanced himself from the party just before 2017 polls.
The former Minister said it is a very sorry state of affairs for a democratic country. “I am surprised as I did not expect this from BJP, with a RSS background who claims to be desh bhakt,” he added. “It is not just violation of constitutional rights but an insult to the Indian Constitution. The rules of Constitutions are used by BJP as per their political gains. In a bid to make Congress mukt bharat, BJP are on rampage to insult the Constitution and attack democracy. There is only one Constitution but it is used differently for different states,” he added.
“The Governor of Karnataka has done further damage to the Constitution. BJP talks of holy alliance, I want to ask in Goa, was BJP-MGP-GFP a holy alliance?” Mesquita asked.
Legal expert Yatish Naik too said the Karnataka decision has killed democracy in both States. “If in Karnataka the single largest party can be called to form the government, then in Goa, we are still the single largest party and hence, we should be invited to form the govt. We should be given time to prove our majority on the floor of the House,” he added.
