Omar invokes Vajpayee example, says TN Governor cannot block govt formation by TVK leader Vijay

Amid the Tamil Nadu government formation row, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday backed TVK leader Vijay and asserted that he should be provided an opportunity to prove the majority in the assembly and there was no justification for the governor to stop him from taking the oath of CM.

Omar’s remarks came while replying to questions of media persons in Srinagar on the issue of the Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar rejecting Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay’s claim to form the government, stating that his party lacks the requisite numbers.

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Omar said there was no justification for President’s rule in Tamil Nadu in view of numerous Supreme Court judgements emphasising on inviting the single largest party to form the government and then prove its majority on the floor of the House.

“If we see the Supreme Court judgement, then there should be no President’s rule. There are so many cases in which the SC has clearly stated that after the elections, the single largest party should be invited for government formation and they should be allowed to prove their majority in the assembly,” Omar said.

“It happened when Atal Bihari Vajpayee formed the government for 13 days at the Centre, the President of India did not wait for him to show his numbers. The President of India invited him, the government was there for 13 days, but when Vajpayee did not have the numbers, he resigned,” he said.

So, if we take the SC judgement, Omar added, then the Tamil Nadu Lok Bhavan “has no justification to stop this process”.

“Vijay should be allowed to form the government, and then he should be provided an opportunity to prove his majority and if he proves, he will remain, but if not, then he will have to resign,” Omar said.

Replying to questions about defeat of the Trinamool government led by Mamta Banerjee in West Bengal, Omar attributed the BJP’s win to a significant role played by the Election Commission (EC), alongside a consolidation of Hindu votes and a fractured minority mandate.

“The role of the Election Commission in West Bengal has come under scrutiny; the way they went about the process of delimitation and finalisation of electoral rolls raises questions”.

Omar said, “In West Bengal, I think we need to examine the results very carefully. The simplest explanation is the curtailment of voter lists under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), where large numbers of voters were provisionally affected.”

Omar said if the SIR of electoral rolls affects the outcome of the West Bengal assembly elections, it would set a dangerous precedent, against which the political parties need to safeguard themselves.

Replying to a question about the high drama outside a strongroom at Bhabanipur in Kolkata on Thursday night, he said it was Mamata Banerjee’s right to deploy people to guard the EVMs. “I have always said that I do not accept pre-poll rigging, and that safeguarding the EVMs after the polls is our responsibility. We used to do the same when there were ballot boxes; we would keep our people outside the strongroom. So, it was Mamata Banerjee’s right to keep people outside the strongroom, and she did it”, Omar added.

Talking about the INDIA Alliance, Omar said, “We need to decide what the INDIA bloc is for; if it is for state elections too, then what happened in West Bengal is unfortunate, as TMC and Congress fought against each other.”