Amit Shah holds emergency meet with state leaders as Congress moves to stake claim over Goa government

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah is meeting party leaders from Goa amidst Congress staking claim to form the government in the coastal state. The state has plunged into a political crisis of sorts with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s hospitalisation. During the key meeting in Delhi with the party president today, issues like portfolios and alliances are likely to come up for discussion.

The meeting comes at a time when Parrikar, Chief Minister and the face of the party in Goa, has been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi for a pancreatic ailment. Meanwhile, Congress has also claimed that it has the support of over 21 legislators in the 40-member Assembly. “We have the required numbers. I am not going to tell you whom we are in discussions with, but we need the support of 21 MLAs and we have more than that,” Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Chandrakant Kavlekar was quoted as saying by PTI.

The Congress legislators, led by Kavlekar, had met Governor Mridula Sinha on Tuesday and demanded a floor test by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government to prove its majority in the Assembly.

BJP had formed the government after last year’s assembly polls with the support of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Independent MLAs. The BJP has 14 seats in the Assembly, the GFP and the MGP have three each and the NCP has one. There are also three Independent legislators. The Congress, which is the single-largest party with 16 MLAs.

Earlier, on May 18 too, the Congress had staked claim to form the government in Goa, citing the example of Karnataka, where the largest party, the BJP, was invited to form the government after the Assembly polls threw up a fractured verdict. The Congress had said it was not invited to form the government in Goa after the Assembly polls last year, despite emerging as the single-largest party. The party representatives had also met the governor on September 7, urging her to intervene as the state administration was suffering due to the failing health of the chief minister.

The Congress’ swift move to capitalise of the CM’s ailment appears to have put the BJP on the backfoot. In the Assembly elections held last year, the BJP had managed to stitch together a quick alliances of smaller parties and managed to form the government despite the COngress emerging as the single largest party in the state. The uniting factor then was the condition by smaller parties that only Manohar Parrikar would lead the government. With Parrikar missing in action, the BJP does appear to be on sticky wicket.