To stake claim to form govt, Goa Cong to meet Governor today at 6:30 pm

Panaji: Goa Congress legislators will meet Governor Mridula Sinha Tuesday evening at 6:30 pm with a demand for dismissal of the Manohar Parrikar-led government and allowing the opposition party to stake claim for forming an alternate government.

The move comes at a time when 62-year-old Parrikar is admitted in the AIIMS in Delhi for a pancreatic ailment.

Goa is being ruled by the BJP-led Alliance headed by Parrikar.

The Congress, which has 16 members in the 40-member state Assembly, on Monday, submitted a memorandum to the Governor in her absence, urging her not to dissolve the Assembly and instead invite the party to form the alternate government.

All the 16 Congress MLAs, led by their leader Chandrakant Kavlekar, had submitted the memorandum to Governor office.

Speaking to PTI, Kavlekar said the Governor, who was away from the state, arrived in Goa at 3 pm on Tuesday and her office called him for the meeting of the Congress legislators with her at 6.30 pm.

"We all 16 MLAs will be meeting the Governor and will request her to dismiss the present government. We will also ask her to invite us to form the new government," he said.

He said the Congress has support of legislators from other parties and can form the government, if given a chance by the governor.

He, however, refused to spell out who all are supporting the Congress.

"We will prove our majority on the floor of the House, Kavlekar said.

The Leader of the Opposition said the BJP has a habit of forcing Governors Rule in a state where they fail to rule and the Congress will not allow to happen it.

The BJP has 14 seats in the Assembly, its allies Goa Forward Party and MGP have three each. Three Independents and an MLA from Nationalist Congress Party also support the BJP.

BJP leader Ram Lal had said yesterday that the Goa government is stable and no demand has been made for a change in the leadership.

He stated this after a meeting with party MLAs, former legislators and core committee members.

He said the BJP's alliance partners - the Goa Forward Party (GFP), the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Independents - conveyed that they will agree to any political decision taken by the saffron party.

Earlier too, the Congress had staked claim on May 18, 2018 to form the government in Goa, citing the example of Karnataka where the largest party BJP was invited to form the government after the Assembly polls threw up a fractured verdict.

The Congress had said that it had not been invited to form the government in Goa after the Assembly polls in March last year despite it emerging as the largest single party.

The party had also met Governor on September 7, 2018 urging her to intervene as State Administration was suffering due to sickness of the Chief Minister.