<p> The ongoing political drama in Goa and Manipur has again raised questions over the role of governors in government formation after polls.<br /><br />Have the governors of Goa and Manipur violated any of the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission which went into the issue? <br /><br />The Supreme Court’s observations on Tuesday — in the case of Congress’ s plea against Goa Governor Mridula Sinha’s invitation to Manohar Parrikar — do not appear to indict her. <br /><br />The Congress won 17 seats in the election and the BJP 13, but the latter secured the support of small regional parties for reaching the majority figure of 21 in a House of 40 members.<br /><br />The Sarkaria Commission, in a report way back in 1987, recommended that in choosing a chief minister, the governor should be guided by certain principles. It made it clear that if there is a single party having an absolute majority in the Assembly, the leader of the party should automatically be asked to become the chief minister.<br /><br />If there is no such party, the governor should select a chief minister from among the following parties or groups of parties by sounding them in turn, in the order of preference indicated below:<br /><br />(i) an alliance of parties that was formed prior to the elections<br /><br />(ii) the largest single party staking a claim to form the government with the support of others, including ‘independents’<br /><br />(iii) a post-electoral coalition of parties, with all the partners in the coalition joining the government<br /><br />(iv) a post-electoral alliance of parties, with some of the parties in the alliance forming a government and the remaining parties, including independents, supporting the government from outside<br /><br />(v) the governor, while going through the process described above, should select a leader who in his (governor’s) judgement is most likely to command a majority in the Assembly<br /><br />The Sarkaria Commission also recommended that a chief minister, unless he/she is the leader of a party which has absolute majority in the Assembly, should seek a vote of confidence in the Assembly within 30 days of taking over. This practice should be religiously adhered to with the sanctity of a rule of law.<br /><br />Essentially, the panel said the party or combination of parties which commands the widest support in the legislative Assembly should be called upon to form the government.<br /><br />The bottom line was that the governor’s task is to see that “a government is formed and not to try to form a government which pursues policies which he (or she) approves”.<br /><br />The other recommendations made by the commission were that the issue of majority support should be allowed/directed to be tested only on the floor of the House and nowhere else.<br /><br />The Sarkaria panel was set up by the Centre in June 1983 after growing pressure for greater autonomy by the states, which raises questions over the role of governor.<br /><br />The commission submitted its report to the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in October 1987. Since then, its recommendations have been cited by the apex court and others as a textbook in government formation. <br /></p>
<p> The ongoing political drama in Goa and Manipur has again raised questions over the role of governors in government formation after polls.<br /><br />Have the governors of Goa and Manipur violated any of the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission which went into the issue? <br /><br />The Supreme Court’s observations on Tuesday — in the case of Congress’ s plea against Goa Governor Mridula Sinha’s invitation to Manohar Parrikar — do not appear to indict her. <br /><br />The Congress won 17 seats in the election and the BJP 13, but the latter secured the support of small regional parties for reaching the majority figure of 21 in a House of 40 members.<br /><br />The Sarkaria Commission, in a report way back in 1987, recommended that in choosing a chief minister, the governor should be guided by certain principles. It made it clear that if there is a single party having an absolute majority in the Assembly, the leader of the party should automatically be asked to become the chief minister.<br /><br />If there is no such party, the governor should select a chief minister from among the following parties or groups of parties by sounding them in turn, in the order of preference indicated below:<br /><br />(i) an alliance of parties that was formed prior to the elections<br /><br />(ii) the largest single party staking a claim to form the government with the support of others, including ‘independents’<br /><br />(iii) a post-electoral coalition of parties, with all the partners in the coalition joining the government<br /><br />(iv) a post-electoral alliance of parties, with some of the parties in the alliance forming a government and the remaining parties, including independents, supporting the government from outside<br /><br />(v) the governor, while going through the process described above, should select a leader who in his (governor’s) judgement is most likely to command a majority in the Assembly<br /><br />The Sarkaria Commission also recommended that a chief minister, unless he/she is the leader of a party which has absolute majority in the Assembly, should seek a vote of confidence in the Assembly within 30 days of taking over. This practice should be religiously adhered to with the sanctity of a rule of law.<br /><br />Essentially, the panel said the party or combination of parties which commands the widest support in the legislative Assembly should be called upon to form the government.<br /><br />The bottom line was that the governor’s task is to see that “a government is formed and not to try to form a government which pursues policies which he (or she) approves”.<br /><br />The other recommendations made by the commission were that the issue of majority support should be allowed/directed to be tested only on the floor of the House and nowhere else.<br /><br />The Sarkaria panel was set up by the Centre in June 1983 after growing pressure for greater autonomy by the states, which raises questions over the role of governor.<br /><br />The commission submitted its report to the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in October 1987. Since then, its recommendations have been cited by the apex court and others as a textbook in government formation. <br /></p>