A shot in the arm for the opposition

A shot in the arm for the opposition

Can they stay united till next round of polls?

All shades of the Opposition have come together to celebrate the BJP’s embarrassment at one, having prematurely celebrated victory in Karnataka, two, its chief minister having to resign before a vote of confidence, after having claimed to have the numbers before the governor and the public at large, and, three, at the Supreme Court overriding a controversial decision by the governor to give its chief ministerial nominee 15 days to prove a majority, and curtailing the period to just three days of swearing in. The setback to the BJP has galvanised the Opposition and its talk of giving the BJP a united fight in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Now, the assembly elections towards the end of the year in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh will test the Opposition’s resolve and the BJP’s ability to maintain its winning spree.

It is surprising that the governor of Karnataka has given the Janata Dal (S)-Congress combine’s chief ministerial candidate 14 days to prove his majority. The Supreme Court had refrained from taking a position on whether the governor was right to call the largest party, in a situation of a fractured mandate by the electorate, rather than a post-poll coalition that claimed a majority. Instead, it had allowed the swearing in of the chief minister chosen on the largest single party criterion but demanded an immediate floor test. The Supreme Court did not actually ask for an immediate test to prove or disprove Yeddyurappa’s majority. The Supreme Court opined that “…we deem it proper that Floor Test to ascertain the majority of one or the other group is conducted immediately and without any delay.” That phrase ‘one or the other group’ is telling. The same sitting of the assembly which saw Yeddyurappa stage a walk-out before the test could be conducted could have been used for Kumaraswamy’s vote of confidence. A fortnight for Kumaraswamy violates the spirit of the court order.

The BJP did well to abandon government formation, eschewing the option of creating a ruckus in the House to adjourn it, to buy time for luring MLAs to its side.