Ayodhya halts NCP-Cong in their tracks

Now that it is almost clear that the BJP and the Shiv Sena cannot form the government, the Congress and the NCP have started finetuning their strategies.

Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan was instructed by the High Command to meet Sharad Pawar. The non-BJP formulation was expected to stake claim by midnight but stopped in its tracks after the announcement that the Ayodhya verdict will be out on Saturday.

While outgoing CM Devendra Fadnavis tendered his resignation on Friday, he refrained from staking claim as representative of the single largest party.

Since the term of the Assembly is expiring, the Governor is obliged to call the singlelargest party or the single largest pre-poll alliance to form the government in the next two days. Though there is no time limit fixed for a caretaker government, it can at best be at helm for 5 to 10 days, said constitutional expert and former Secretary General of Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap.

It should pave the way for the alternative arrangement at the earliest.

When attention was drawn to the fact that the Governor has not invited anybody for the last fortnight, Kashyap said that the Governor ought to have done so by now.

If the single largest party or alliance declines the invite or fails to prove its majority in the house, then the Governor should call the second largest party, the constitutional expert added. Af ter exhausting all options, the Governor can recommend President’s rule in the State.

But the Governor should keep in mind that Raj Bhavan is not the place where majority is to be showcased. For that, the best place is the floor of the house.