After Karnataka election politics, RJD stakes claim to form govt in Bihar as 'single largest party' in state

After Congress'  decision to stake claim to form a government in Goa, where it had emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly polls held last year, the Rashtriya Janata Dal decided to a  take a leaf out of this strategy and meet the governor of Bihar. “I will meet the Honourable governor of Bihar along with MLAs as we are the single largest party of Bihar,” RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav tweeted on Thursday.

I will meet Honourable Governor of Bihar along with MLAs as we are single largest party of Bihar.

— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) May 17, 2018

He also told  ANI that the party will be holding be a one-day dharna on Friday against the “murder of democracy” in Karnataka. “We would be holding a one-day dharna tomorrow against the murder of democracy in Karnataka. We also request the Bihar governor to dissolve the state government and like in Karnataka invite the single largest party, which in Bihar is the RJD,” Yadav said. He reiterated that there can’t be different laws in other states. “Why are different decisions being made in different states?” Yadav asked in an interview to NDTV, questioning the developments in Karnataka. [caption id=“attachment_4304065” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. News18[/caption] RJD, an ally of Congress in Bihar, made this announcement hours after BJP legislature party leader BS Yeddyurappa took oath as the Karnataka chief minister on Thursday after the Supreme Court declined to stay his swearing-in ceremony. Governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to Yeddyurappa at 9 am at the Raj Bhavan amid tight security. At a press conference, Yadav voiced these concerns again, announcing that he will meet the governor of Bihar at 1 pm on Friday. “We are not only the single-largest party but also the single-largest block of pre-poll alliance in Bihar. Then why should we not be called to form a government in Bihar?” Yadav asked at the press conference. He claimed that organisations like the Election Commission and CBI are being blackmailed into doing the BJP’s bidding and questioned how BS Yeddyurappa asked for 7 days to prove a government, but ended up getting 15 days instead. “How will BJP prove majority? Amit Shah has only one formula, horse-trading or sending agencies like CBI and ED behind MLAs of other parties. It’s dictatorship by the BJP. If we aren’t united today, then it was Bihar yesterday, Karnataka today. It can be Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan tomorrow,” he asserted. He claimed that the RJD should be invited to form a govt in Bihar the same way the BJP was invited in Karnataka. “The alliance (in Karnataka) didn’t even get a chance, even if it had the numbers…This is BJP’s gunda gardi,” Tejashwi Yadav said at the presser. He claimed that this would be a dark day in India’s political history and that parties must unite to oppose these developments. Yadav claimed that the BJP came to power through the back door and that the party does not want the welfare of Karnataka. “It is hungry for power,” he said. Going back to Bihar, Yadav said that the change in governments, at the end of the day, harmed the people. “Four governments in four years did not damage the BJP or Nitish Kumar, it harmed the people of Bihar…These politics developments will similarly affect the growth and development of Karnataka,” Yadav. Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala had on Wednesday night invited Yeddyurappa to form the government and prove within 15 days that he had a majority in the Legislative Assembly. Many other Congress allies have also voiced similar concerns.  The DMK , a key southern ally of the Congress, termed Vala’s invite to the BJP to form a government in the state “hasty” and “unconstitutional” and alleged that it would lead to horse-trading. Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leaders also staged a protest against Yeddyurappa’s swearing-in as the Karnataka chief minister, terming it unconstitutional. The party’s state president HD Kumaraswamy attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for “demolishing” the democracy. “Modi government wants to demolish democracy by targeting the opposition parties. When the JD-S and Congress have a majority, we weren’t invited by the Governor to form the government,” Kumaraswamy said. With inputs from agencies Follow LIVE updates of the Karnataka Election Result here