Public mandate in Goa, Manipur not respected: Congress

The Congress slammed the BJP in Parliament on Tuesday for what it said was "not accepting people's mandate" in Manipur and Goa and staking claim to form governments in the two states even though the BJP was not the single largest party.

After denial of permission by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to raise the issue in the first half of the session, Congress leader K.H. Muniyappa raised the issue as the lower house started a debate on demands for grants for the Railway Ministry.

"We must respect the people's mandate. Unfortunately, today is a black day for Parliament," Muniyappa said.

"I would have appreciated if the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) had said that they had won a big state and that he respected the will of the people in other two states. But that did not happen," he said referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party's move to stake claim to form the governments in Goa and Manipur.

The Congress has more MLAs than the BJP in both the states which went to the polls in February and March.

"You are not accepting the mandate of people. This should not have happened," he said.

Commenting on the ministry's functioning, the Congress leader appreciated the work done by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu but added: "You are doing good work; your government is not."

--IANS

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