BJP leaders took charge in Goa and Manipur. The Congress had moved Supreme Court, claiming that the Governor’s decision to appoint Manohar Parrikar as Chief Minister without consulting it — the single largest party — was a “brazen” misuse of constitutional office. The Congress and the BJP continued to spar over efforts at government formation in Goa and Manipur, both inside and outside Parliament. Members of the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal staged a walkout twice after being refused permission to discuss the issue in the Lok Sabha by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
The constitution says the assembly leader supported by the majority of voters is chosen as the Chief Minister. In case no party or pre/post collation is able to furnish majority support, then the Governor acting on his own conscience invites the leader of the largest party to form the Government and subsequently prove majority. Here, Manohar Parrikar claims to have submitted proof of support by 21 MLAs; he obviously gets the invitation to form the Government, as per the constitution, even though he may not be an elected MLA himself, for the time being. Remember the curious case of Manmohan Singh, who was not an elected MP though he was chosen to become the Prime Minister. Governments in Goa and Manipur both are by “legitimacy and the numbers”. In both these states, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party in the assembly elections.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister in Centre, Parrikar came to state. He ruled Goa several times and is popular among people too. BJP leader, Nongthombam Biren Singh who took oath as the Chief Minister of Manipur has served in every political party and finally settled in the party from past one year. He was member of almost every political party, at present he holds the highest position as Chief Minister of the state. This is BJP’s first government in Manipur and is being propelled by post-poll allies such as NPP, NPF, LJP and Independents. The oath-taking ceremony began after Governor Najma Heptullah invited the BJP-led coalition under Biren Singh to form the next government in the state after being assured of requisite support from regional parties and Independents. After the election results were announced on March 11, both the Congress and the BJP were claiming support in order to form the government. Though, the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 28 MLAs, the BJP that secured 21 seats claimed to have the support of MLAs from NPP, NPF, LJP that would help it move past the half-way mark.
Mr. Singh is an Indian footballer, journalist and politician from Manipur. In 2002, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manipur, as the Democratic Revolutionary Peoples’ Party candidate in the Heingang constituency. He later joined the Indian National Congress. In May 2003, he was appointed Minister of State of Vigilance in the Manipur state government. In 2007, he retained his Assembly seat, contesting on behalf of the Indian National Congress. He was later appointed as the Minister of Irrigation & Flood Control and Youth Affairs & Sports in the State Government. In 2012, he again retained his Assembly seat for the third consecutive term.
In September 2015, Biren stated that the recently passed bill in the Manipur Legislative Assembly to protect indigenous peoples would not harm any community in the state. In October 2016, Biren resigned from the Manipur Legislative Assembly and the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee, this came after revolt against Chief Ministers of Manipur Okram Ibobi Singh. N. Biren then formally joined the BJP on October 17, 2016 and later became the Spokesperson and Co-convener of the Election Management Committee of BJP Manipur Pradesh. He won the 2017 Manipur Legislative Assembly Election as a candidate of the BJP from Heingang Assembly Constituency. He was elected as leader of the BJP Legislature Party in Manipur and with a majority of MLAs having been presented to the Governor. He will be the first ever BJP Chief Minister in Manipur.
The magnitude of Parrikar is that he is an IIT graduate the first CM holding such qualification and he has been invited to form the Government for the fifth time. He delivered best performance as India’s Defence Minister and worked for about 28 months. Parrikar has proved his brilliance and the people around him realised this merit in him, but still the support to BJP in Goa was conditional and that’s the reason he had to come back to the roots. Residents of Goa had no other choice than inviting him to be their leader and he gracefully accepted the same. BJP had more legislators on their side which allowed them to form the government. If Congress had made similar attempts earlier, the party could have formed the government. Nothing wrong and there should be no grumbling. BJP has grabbed the opportunity by wooing smaller parties. This practice was perfected by the Congress during its long tenure of power at the Centre.
So, now BJP has to prove that they will provide better governance because people had waited for a long time for development to come in their way. The Congress, despite launching various schemes, has not delivered much. The BJP cannot afford to take people for granted who have put their trust and faith in the prime minister. Votes were not for the BJP, but for Narendra Modi. The time ahead would be much more challenging for the party and PM both.
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