New Delhi: Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala is likely to be guided by Supreme Court verdicts which say that a party with the largest number of MLAs should be invited to form the government in the event of a fractured election result, jurists said on Tuesday.
While Rohatgi said it was a settled law that the Governor must call the single largest party, or the BJP here, to form government, Sawant was of the view that there was nothing in the constitutional scheme that would come in the way of the Congress-JD(S) combine forming the government.
Differing with them, Dwivedi and Goel said it was a “premature” stage for the Governor to take a call and, for all observers, it is a “wait and watch” game until the Election Commission announces the final outcome.
Mr Dhavan said the correct way is to call the single largest party first and, if it fails to prove its numbers, then the Governor may go for the coalition option.
Referring to Goa and Manipur polls, Mr Dhavan said a mistake was committed in these two states as the single largest party, the Congress, was not invited to form the government. His view was shared by Goel who said that as per the constitutional convention, the single largest party should be invited for government formation but there have been a few aberrations in the past like in Manipur and Goa.
He said the Governor should invite the single largest party to explore whether they want to form the government or not, and if they refuse, he would be entitled to request Congress to explore opportunity.
