The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress may need support from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) to form government in the coastal state, with most pre-poll surveys predicting a hung Assembly in Goa. The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are claiming that they will get the majority figure. At the same time, both the parties have also said that they will seek support from the Deepak Dhavalikar-led MGP in case the seats are short. Voting for the 40-member Goa Legislative Assembly was held on February 14 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Significantly, in the 2017 state assembly elections, the Congress had won the maximum 17 seats, while the BJP got 13 seats. However, the saffron party formed the government in alliance with the MGP, Goa Forward Party (GFP) and independent candidates. When Pramod Sawant became the chief minister after the death of Manohar Parrikar in 2019, two MGP ministers were dropped from the state cabinet.
MGP and Trinamool Congress have fought this election together. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said the BJP leadership has started talks with MGP to seek support to deal with the situation if the majority mark is not touched. The BJP contested the election alone this time, while the Congress had an alliance with the Vijay Sardesai-led GFP.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Dinesh G Rao said on Sunday that if the party does not get a majority, it is ready to forge a post-poll alliance with parties such as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), MGP and Trinamool Congress. . Congress leader Michael Lobo said on Monday that he would include MGP in the government even after the Congress-GFP alliance secured more than 21 seats. Lobo said that the BJP has done a lot wrong with the MGP. Lobo had left the BJP and joined the Congress in January this year itself.
MGP MLA Sudin Dhavalikar said they would take a decision on the alliance only after taking the Trinamool into confidence when the results are out. “MGP and Trinamool will together decide who to support and whom not to,” he said. “It is too early to say anything now because we don’t know who will get how many seats,” he said. Meanwhile, Sudin Dhavalikar on Saturday said his party would take its stand after the Goa election results by taking the Trinamool into confidence, but would “never support” Pramod Sawant as chief minister. He said that Sawant had thrown out MGP ministers from the cabinet.