The manner in which the BJP-led government was cobbled together throws up an interesting question: If the government at the Centre was different would the outcome in Goa have been different? It is not difficult to foresee what would have happened if a UPA government was at the Centre. The Congress would have been called to form government and it would have put together a majority. It is deeply worrying that one election verdict can throw up two governments all depending on which government is in power at the Centre and who is the Governor in the State. Considering that the Governor’s role in matters of government formation is guided by convention rather than law, it immediately follows that one of the two outcomes is unjust and a violation of convention.
In a Facebook post, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley listed the occasions when Governors ignored the single largest party and called upon the coalition which commanded a majority to form government. There are many cases to show that established convention favours a coalition which enjoys a majority in the House instead of the single largest party.
Based on convention and balance of power, the Sarkaria Commission drafted a set of criteria to guide governors while appointing chief ministers. Although not codified into law, the criteria listed in the report would show that calling the single largest party to form government when a coalition which enjoys a majority exists would be a violation of convention.
The Sarkaria guidelines state that if no party commands an absolute majority then the governor has the following options -- form a government from an alliance of parties formed before the elections; invite the largest single party staking claim to form government along with support of others; explore a post electoral-alliance of parties with all partners joining the government.
It is obvious that the Governor went for the third option. The first option was irrelevant because there was no alliance between any parties before the election. The second criteria did not favour the Congress because it clearly states ‘along with support of others’. The Congress never staked its claim because it failed to elect a leader and failed to garner the support of either the MGP or the GFP. Hence the Governor went for the third option and that is why representatives of parties in the coalition were sworn in on Tuesday. One can question the swiftness with which the Governor acted, but there is no rule, law or convention that states that the Governor has to give the largest single party time until it can cobble a coalition.
So no matter how one looks at it, the Goa governor’s decision followed convention and even the criteria laid down by the Sarkaria Commission. It also follows that the role of interpreting the mandate and upholding it, lies with political parties and not the governor who is bound by the majority rule.
