"Inspired" by Karnataka, Lalu Yadav's son Tejashwi handed over letters to Bihar Governor
Lalu Yadav's RJD in Bihar and the Congress in Goa today "staked claim" to power in their states and urged the governors to take a page from Karnataka.
In Bihar, Lalu Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav, along with alliance partner Congress, handed over letters to Governor Satyapal Malik saying that as the single largest party, the RJD should be invited to form Government.
"We on behalf of the people of Bihar are reiterating our passionate appeal, which we had made on July 27, 2017. We are inspired to write to you all over again in view of a principled position taken by the governor of Karnataka highlighting the significance of the Single Largest Party in the formation of the government," Tejashwi Yadav wrote in the letter to the governor.
In Karnataka, the BJP, which emerged as the largest party but fell short of a majority, was invited by Governor Vajubhai Vala to take power and given 15 days to prove its majority. The Supreme Court has ordered the
BJP to take a test of strength tomorrow instead.
With 80 seats, the RJD won nine seats more than Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party in the 2015 Bihar election, but it was dumped last year as Mr Kumar ended his grand alliance with the RJD and Congress and re-embraced the BJP.
The Congress in Goa today submitted a similar letter to Governor Mridula Sinha, who had last year invited the BJP and its allies to take power instead of the Congress, which was the single largest party.
The Congress requested the governor to "right the past wrong" and "now invite the 16-member Congress legislative party to form the government instead".
She said she would respond in two days, said Congress leaders.
The BJP won 13 seats in Goa in last year's election compared to the 17 won by the Congress.
But the BJP swiftly moved to claim power with two regional parties and independent MLAs and formed a coalition government.