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Congress Stakes Claim To Form Govt In Goa, Says BJP Has No Allies

This is the second time in 48 hours the Congress has staked claim to form a government in the state.
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The Congress on Sunday staked claim to form government after condoling the death of chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who headed the BJP-led alliance in the state.

In a letter to the Governor, the Congress said, “The coalition partners had allied with BJP on condition that the government is headed by Manohar Parrikar who was the then Defence Minister of India. The BJP has no allies as of now,” the Hindustan Times reported.

“The Congress being the single largest party the leader of the Congress Legislature Party is entitled to be invited to form the best government,” the letter said.

It was signed by Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar and leader of opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, the report said.

This is the second time in 48 hours the Congress has staked claim to form a government in the state. On Saturday, it had claimed that the Manohar Parrikar dispensation has lost its majority in the Assembly following the demise of BJP MLA Francis D’Souza.

The strength of Goa Assembly has reduced from 40 to 36 after the death of Parrikar and D’Souza and resignation of two MLAs ― Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte.

While the Congress currently has 14 MLAs, down from 16 after Sopte and Shirodkar left it to join the BJP, the latter has 13 MLAs.

Three MLAs each of the Goa Forward Party, MGP and an Independent and the lone NCP legislator are supporting the BJP.

Bypolls to the seats previously held by Sopte, Shirodkar and D’Souza are scheduled to be held along with Lok Sabha polls in the state on 23 April.

(With PTI inputs)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.