Goa Govt. formation row: Subramanian Swamy mocks Rahul Gandhi over lack of 'Constitutional' knowledge

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday mocked Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for accusing the saffron outfit of stealing the mandate in Goa and said that the Gandhi scion has meager knowledge of the Indian Constitution and advised the latter to read the document before making a noise about it.

In a sardonic attack, Swamy said the Congress vice president is making comments against the BJP without attaining full knowledge of the Indian Constitution.

"I don't know which Constitution he is consulting, some Italian Constitution or what? Because the Indian one is very clear. Article 164 (1) says that the Governor can appoint anyone as a chief minister. I would like to ask, what wrong has the Governor done? I would like to ask where in the constitution it is written that the single largest party should be invited," Swamy told ANI.

"These people without studying the constitution come up with such remarks. And of course Rahul Gandhi does not have much education, so he doesn't know the Constitution. Before making noise he should read the Constitution and tell which article has been violated," he added.

Rahul Gandhi yesterday attacked the BJP for polarizing voters and using money power in the recently concluded assembly elections across five states.

"The BJP won elections in UP, I'd like to congratulate them. Why they won, there are multiple reasons, one being polarisation. Democracy is being undermined by them using financial power and money," Gandhi said.

In a major setback to the Congress Party, the Supreme Court today refused to put stay on former defence minister Manohar Parrikar's swearing-in ceremony in Goa and ordered a floor test for the BJP to prove majority in the state assembly.

The apex court said that the BJP has shown the support of 21 out of the 40 newly elected MLAs and ordered conducting of the floor test on Thursday.

It directed that all pre-requisites for holding the floor test be completed by Wednesday, including the formalities required by the Election Commission and putting in place the senior most member in the Assembly as the protem speaker. The apex court said, all the issues raised in the petition by Goa Congress Legislative Party leader Chandrakant Kavlekar can be resolved by a simple direction of holding a floor test.

The BJP has won 13 seats and the Congress has 17 in the house. Goa Forward won 3, MGP has 3 and three were independents. NCP has one seat.