Goa: CM Parrikar wins trust vote with support of 22 MLAs

Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar won the crucial floor test held in the Goa Assembly on Thursday, with 22 MLAs voting in favour of the BJP government.

Congress had secured 16 votes in the floor test that was mandated by the Supreme Court. One of the Congress MLAs, Vishwajit Rane, abstained from voting.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court cleared the decks for Parrikar to take oath as Chief Minister by refusing Congress' plea to stay the ceremony and ordered holding of the floor test on Thursday.

A special session was convened on Thursday. The apex court had also directed that no other business apart from holding the floor test should be conducted.

Parrikar, who stepped down as Defence Minister, was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of the coastal state for the fourth time on Tuesday evening, along with nine ministers.

Parrikar claims support of 22 legislators, two more than the halfway mark in the 40-member Assembly.

The BJP had bagged 13 seats in the polls, while it claims support of three MLAs each of the Goa Forward Party and Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party, besides three independents. Congress had won 17 seats, emerging as the single biggest party.

The Goa Congress Legislative Party leader had argued that the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the polls and under the constitutional convention, the Governor was bound to invite the single largest party to form the government and give it the opportunity to prove majority in the floor test.

However, the Supreme Court had observed that Congress had failed to come out with affidavits of any elected MLAs of two regional parties, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Goa Forward Party (GFP), or the independents indicating support to it.