Invite us to form government in Goa, Congress tells Governor Mridula Sinha

Panaji : The Congress in Goa on Thursday demanded that Governor Mridula Sinha follow in the footsteps of her Karnataka couterpart Vajubhai Vala and invite the Congress, which emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly after the 2017 elections, to form the government in the coastal state.

"If the Karnataka Governor can invite the Bharatiya Janata Party, the single largest party to form the government, why can't the Goa Governor invite the Congress, the single largest party in Goa, to form the government here? Why two critieria for two states? Why double standards?

"We request Her Excellency to follow big brother Karnataka Governor and invite the Congress to form the Goa government to recitfy a wrong," Congress state President Girish Chodankar told reporters.

The BJP's Goa unit dismissed the Congress demand as an "act of frustration".

"The BJP alliance in Goa has an absolute majority. The Congress is frustrated because the party is being wiped out in India. Therefore, they are making wild allegations," BJP state General Secretary Sadanand Shet Tanavade told reporters here.

The BJP won 13 seats in 2017, compared with 17 of the Congress.

However, after swift political manoeuvering, the BJP staked claim to power with two regional parties and independent MlAs and formed a coalition government after getting the nod from Sinha.

In Karnataka, BJP's B.S. Yeddyurappa was sworn in as Chief Minister by Governor Vala on Thursday morning, despite protests from the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular, which formed a post-poll coalition to bid for power in the southern state.