The Karnataka election results are out and its a hung assembly. The BJP has emerged as the number 1 party and is just short of a simple majority. The Congress is the big loser, but along with the JD(S), it has just enough numbers to claim the majority. However, there are also reports of break-away MLAs from both JD(S) and Congress. Keeping that aside, if the official numbers hold, who should the Governor call?
Out first expert is Congress leader Randeep Surjewala. In 2017, when a similar situation was seen in Goa, only the Congress was the largest party, Surjewala had opined that the single largest party should be called, which in Karnataka’s case will be BJP:
https://twitter.com/rssurjewala/status/841710625361408000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Sagarika Ghose claims to base her view on the very same Bommai case, and has a totally different view as compared to the above view:
https://twitter.com/sagarikaghose/status/996364062278610944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Coming back to Surjewala, he today has a different view:
https://twitter.com/rssurjewala/status/996356660959563776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
His view though matches with Arun Jaitley’s view from a year ago!
https://twitter.com/arunjaitley/status/841274899964416001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/arunjaitley/status/841274740010438656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Coming back to Sagarika, her husband though holds a different view. Interesting dinner conversation then?
https://twitter.com/sardesairajdeep/status/841613275406225409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Even the founder Editor of the Wire has changed his views. In Goa, it was “subversion of a popular verdict”
https://twitter.com/bombaywallah/status/840997051848523776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Today, we hear more about “legal precedent”
https://twitter.com/bombaywallah/status/996370537973563392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
So what is the final answer? It’s complicated. You may like to read these pieces for a bit of history on this issue.