Karnataka Assembly election results: Congress reminds 'Dear BJP' of Arun Jaitley's tweet to assert claim for government formation

With no official confirmation on who Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala would invite to form government in Karnataka, the Congress is up in arms against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that the JDS-Congress combine has the right to be given a chance first.

In its attempt to strengthen the argument, the Congress has dug out a tweet posted by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley wherein the BJP strongman had said that if elected MLAs form a coalition, the Governor would be right in inviting them to form government in the state. This tweet dismisses the argument of the BJP that the Governor has to first invite the single largest party to form government in case of hung Assembly.

When Manipur and Goa failed to give clear majority to any party in 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP had raced ahead of the Congress to form post-poll coalitions and form governments in the state. Justifying the move by the Governors of the states to invite BJP-led coalition and not Congress, which had emerged as the single largest party, Jaitley had tweeted, "In a hung assembly, if majority of the elected MLAs form a coalition, the Governor would be constitutionally right in inviting the leader of the majority coalition to form the government and prove their majority within a short period."

Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi used the tweet by Jaitley to assert party’s stand.  Sharing an old media report on Jaitley’s tweet, she tweeted, “Arun Jaitley ji, on what is constitutionally the right thing to do for the governor. Same applies for Karnataka too, dear BJP.”

However, sources told Zee News on Tuesday that the Karnataka Governor is likely to first invite BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa to form government in the state on the grounds that the saffron party has emerged as the single largest in the state Assembly elections.

The JDS-Congress combine, which has named HD Kumaraswamy as its chief ministerial candidate, has also staked claim to form government in Karnataka as it has the required numbers. A joint delegation of JDS and Congress leaders met the Governor on Tuesday during which Kumaraswamy submitted a letter confirming Congress support for government formation.

Karnataka threw up a hung Assembly on as the results of the elections came in, giving no party the numbers required for government formation. While the BJP won 104, the Congress bagged 78 and JDS managed to win 38 seats.