The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-led government in Goa sailed through a crucial floor test on Thursday, securing the votes of 22 out of 40 MLAs, putting to rest any contention against it governing the coastal state. Here are five things you need to know.
1. The BJP won 22 seats in total. The party won 13 and has built a coalition with three legislators each from regional parties Goa Forward and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and two independent legislators. NCP’s ( Nationalist Congress Party) Churchill Alemao also backed the BJP. Meanwhile the Congress was backed by only 16 MLAs with one of its legislators, Vishwajit Rane walking out of the assembly before the vote.
2. Although the Congress won 17 seats in recently concluded state polls, four more than the BJP, it was slow in moving to stitch together the support of four more legislators that it needed to secure a majority.
In polls held in five states, the BJP won by a huge margin in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, while it trailed the Congress in Goa and Manipur it managed to form governments in both by quickly summoning the support of smaller parties. A win in Punjab was the Congress' only consolation.
3. Meanwhile Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of stealing the mandate of the people and undermining democracy in Goa and Manipur by the use of 'money power'
#WATCH: BJP has used money to win power in Manipur and Goa, they stole Governments, says Congress VP Rahul Gandhi in Chandigarh pic.twitter.com/XIffdr0lEH
— ANI (@ANI_news) March 16, 2017
4. Earlier in the week, India’s Supreme Court refused the Congress' plea to stay Manohar Parrikar’s swearing in ceremony as Goa's chief minister and ordered holding a floor test.
5. Parrikar stepped down as the country’s defence minister and took oath as Goa’s chief minister for the fourth time, along with nine other ministers, on Tuesday.