Telangana polls: What Governor should do in case of a hung house

 What if the election results today throw up a hung Assembly? If no one is able to scale the magic figure, 60, the Governor will  be the focus of attention.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao with Governor ESL Narasimhan on Tuesday (File Photo | EPS)
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao with Governor ESL Narasimhan on Tuesday (File Photo | EPS)

HYDERABAD: What if the election results today throw up a hung Assembly? If no one is able to scale the magic figure, 60, the Governor will be the focus of attention. Will he call the single largest party to form the government? Or the leader who claims majority through a pre-poll alliance? Can a leader who claims majority with post-poll alliance be invited first?

Though the Sarkaria and Punchhi Commissions tried to address the role of the Governor in the event of hung Assembly, there are no specific laws or Acts to this regard. This has made the role of the Governor ambiguous, as it was recently witnessed in Goa, Karnataka, Manipur and Delhi after elections. 

However, several past judgements make it clear that a pre-poll alliance must be considered as the single-largest party, and must get the first invitation to form the government.

“If there is a pre-poll alliance, it should be treated as one political party. In case, such coalitions gets a majority, the leader of such alliance shall be called by the Governor to form the government,” the Punchhi Commission had noted.

Mentioning the same, the Congress-led People’s Front met Governor ESL Narasimhan on Monday and asked him to consider them as a single party. The Punchhi Commission, that heavily relief on the report submitted by the Sarkaria Commission, also made a set of guidelines for the Governor to follow in the case of a hung Assembly.   

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The Punchhi Commission also observed that there are no specific rules or guidelines in case of a hung Assembly. The option before the Governor is to follow the established conventions or practices. The same rule was applied in the Karnataka Assembly recently. But, will the Governor follow the recommendations of the commissions?

Punchhi Report Guidelines 

  • The party or combination of parties which commands the widest support in the Assembly should be invited to form the government
  • If there is a pre-poll alliance or coalition, it should be treated as one political party 
  • If such coalition obtains a majority, the leader of such alliance should be invited by the Governor to form the government
  • If no party or pre-poll coalition has clear majority, the Governor should select the Chief Minister in rder of preference like: 
  1. single largest party with the support of others
  2. the group with the largest pre-poll alliance, which commands the largest number 
  3. post-electoral coalition with all parties joining the government
  4. post-electoral alliance with some parties joining the government including Independents and also support to government from outside

How Courts Ruled on Hung House

Illustration: Tapas Ranjan
Illustration: Tapas Ranjan

Chandrakant Kavlekar Vs Union of India
This a case relating to elections held in Goa in 2017. The Congress emerged as the single largest party in the Goa polls. But, the BJP approached the Governor with the support of other parties and Independent MLAs. The BJP formed the government. The Congress knocked the doors of the SC. The SC ordered that the BJP should prove its strength.

Senior advocate AM Singhvi relied on Sarkaria Commission report in the Goa case in 2017. In that case, the Congress was the single largest party. But, the BJP formed post-poll alliance. When Singhvi had relied upon Sarkaria report, the court asked Singhvi whether he was endorsing the Sarkaria Commission report? Singhvi said in the affirmative. He pointed that the Supreme Court endorsed the report in Bommai, Rameshwar Prasad and Nabam Rebia cases.

SR Bommai Vs Union of India, 1994 
The Sarkaria Commission report was cited extensively in this judgment. The court ordered that the Governor should invite the leader of the party, who is commanding majority in the House, or the single largest party or group to form the Government.

Nabam Rebia Vs Deputy Speaker 

In this case, the Supreme Court reinstated Nabam Tuki as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh by invalidating the actions of the Governor. The reports of the Sarkaria and the Punchhi Commissions are referred to widely. The role of the Governor is also discussed at length in this case.

hung house history

There are several cases in the past on the role of the Governor in case of hung Assembly, dissolution of the Assembly, no-trust motion and imposing President’s rule in the State. 

2017
The Congress won 28 seats out of 60 seats in Manipur. But, Governor Najma Heptulla invited the BJP, which won only 21 seats, to form the government with the support of other parties.

2005
In Jharkhand, the saffron party had won 30 out of 81 seats. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won only 17 seats and it was invited to form the government. 

In Goa, the BJP won 13 seats and the Congress won 17 seats out of 40 seats. The BJP managed 
to form post-poll alliance.

2002
In Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference won 28 constituencies but the Governor invited the Congress and PDP who won 21 and 15 seats. 

2013
In Delhi elections, the BJP got 31 seats. However, the AAP which got 27 seats was invited to form the government.

When there was a hung Lok Sabha in 1998, after exploring various options, the President gave an opportunity to Atal Bihari Vajpayee to form the government. The then President KR Narayan noted with regard to the 12th Lok Sabha: One, no party or pre-election alliance of parties has won the number of seats required to give it a clear majority in the House. Two, the BJP has emerged as the single largest party though short of a majority. Three, the BJP-led pre-election combination of parties and individuals is also the single largest of such formation. Four, Vajpayee has been duly elected leader of BJP in Parliament. 

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