Amid the political development in Karnataka, Opposition Congress in Manipur and Meghalaya on Thursday said the party leaders would meet the governor to stake claim to form the government in the north-eastern state.
Opposition leader of Manipur Legislative Assembly O Ibobi Singh today told reporters that since his party was the single largest party as it had won 28 seats out of 60, during the 2017 Assembly elections in the state, he would state the claim to form the government.
The governor had then invited the BJP, which had only won 21 seats out of the 60 seats in the Manipur Assembly, he said.
Singh said he would meet the governor tomorrow following the swearing-in of BJP leader B S Yeddyuraapa as chief minister of Karnataka.
He said there should be an equal rule and law in a country and that there should not be any discrimination as there is only one Constitution in India.
In Meghalaya Opposition Congress, which had won the largest number of seats in the February Assembly poll in Meghalaya, will hold demonstrations across the state tomorrow to protest the Karnataka Governor’s decision of inviting the BJP to form government.
The Congress had secured 20 out of the 58 seats of Meghalaya Assembly in the polls.
But it was the conglomerate of the National Peoples Party which had secured 19 seats formed the government with the support of other regional parties and the BJP.
Regional parties United Democratic Party (six), Peoples Democratic Front (two), the Hills State Peoples Democratic Party (two), NCP (one), independents (two) besides the BJP, which won just two seats came together to form the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance under Conrad Sangma.
NPP’s seats increased to 20, the same as that of the Congress, after the party won the April 27 election in Williamnagar, where polls were countermanded following the killing of its candidate.
Meghalaya PCC chief Celestine Lyngdoh said the party will organise dharnas here and all district headquarters tomorrow morning to protest against the “blatantly partisan and authoritarian act” of the Karnataka Governor.
The party would, however, not stake claim to form the government, he said.
“There is no such move on our parts. We are concentrating on the election to the Ampati Assembly seat at the moment,” he said.
The election to Ampati seat, which was vacated by former chief minister and senior party leader Mukul Sangma, is scheduled for May 27.
If the Congress wins the seat it would become the largest party in the Meghalaya Assembly.
Some newly-elected JD(S), Cong MLAs reached Hyderabad, amid a power struggle in Karnataka, and are expected to be lodged in five-star hotels or resorts here, party sources said.
The legislators arrived here by road from Bangalore, the sources said.
“All the MLAs of Congress and JD(S) are coming here. We are all staying here,” Congress MP from Karnataka D K Suresh said.
However, it is not clear whether all the MLAs were coming to the Telangana capital and would stay in one place.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had met JD(S) chief and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda at the latter’s residence before the Karnataka polls.
Rao had appealed to Telugu people living in the neighbouring state to vote for the JD(S).
The JD(S) last night alleged that chartered flights that were scheduled to carry its legislators along with those of the Congress from Bangalore to Kochi were denied permission by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation at the last minute.
However, a Civil Aviation Ministry official had said that DGCA permission was not required for charter operations within India.
Fearing poaching of their legislators by the BJP, the Congress and the JD(S) had earlier decided to fly them from out of Karnataka.
BJP legislature party leader B S Yeddyurappa was yesterday sworn-in as the chief minister of Karnataka.
Yeddyurappa has 15 days to prove his majority in the Assembly.
The BJP has 104 MLAs in the House.The Congress won 78 seats, while the JD(S) was victorious in 37 constituencies.
Polling was held in 222 of the state’s 224 seats, for which results were declared on May 15, delivering a hung House.
The governor of Karnataka had invited the leader of the BJP Legislature Party which won the state Assembly elections as the largest single party.
The BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the southern state winning 104 seats, but is short of a simple majority.
On the other hand, the Congress and the JD(S), which have already announced a post-poll tie-up, won 78 and 37 seats, respectively. The combine had claimed before Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala to have the requisite numbers to form government in the state.
The Governor, however, invited the BJP to form the government and has given it 15 days to prove its majority.
The Congress and the JD(S) had last night jointly petitioned before the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the oath-taking ceremony. The apex court, however, decided not to put a stay on the swearing-in. Yeddyurappa took oath as the chief minister of the state this morning.