BJP, Cong chalk out strategy to form Goa govt post hung Assembly

Panaji: With Goa polls throwing up a fractured verdict, both the BJP and the Congress legislature parties are meeting on Sunday to decide their respective leaders and work out strategies to form government in the state.

"The BJP legislature party will meet in the afternoon. We will explore the possibility of forming the next government," party's state general secretary Sadanand Tanawade said.

Senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is expected to attend the meeting, sources said.

The Congress Legislature Party will also meet today. Following the meeting, the party is expected to stake claim to form government as it has the won the maximum 17 seats in the state Assembly elections, All India Congress Committee Secretary Girish Chodankar said.

In the 40-member House, the BJP bagged 13 seats. The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the independents won three seats each, while the NCP bagged one.

In the last polls, the BJP had won 21 seats and the Congress nine.

The stand of regional parties the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party is likely to play a decisive role in the formation of the next government.

The MGP had snapped ties with the BJP ahead of the polls, held in February.

The GFP, which has not revealed its strategy so far, will also be meeting today to discuss the situation, its spokesman Durgadas Kamat said.

Both the Congress and the BJP are expected to woo the regional forces to get the required numbers to form government in the tourist state where the majority mark is 21.

Independent candidate Rohan Khaunte, backed by the Congress, won in Porvorim seat taking the party's tally to 18.

The party is now short of three legislators to stake claim to rule the state.

The BJP's tally stands at 14 as Independent candidate Govind Gawade, supported by the party, won in Priol seat.

The party needs support of seven more MLAs to retain power in the coastal state.

The NCP's lone legislator Churchill Alemao is expected to go with the Congress, party sources said.