NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji
With election fever gripping Goa once again, the fight for taking control of the 40-member assembly has began in right earnest.
This is the third time that the state would be going to polls in the last 32 months.
The first Congress government could rule only for seven months, as 11 party legislators revolted against then Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro.
Faleiro had also engineered three defections of five legislators to strengthen his position earlier.
The coalition of the splinter Congress group and the 10-member BJP, headed by rebel leader Francisco Sardinha, which replaced the Faleiro government, could, however, rule for only 11 months, before the BJP withdrew support to it.
The BJP then formed its own government by joining hands with another group of rebel Congressmen, who ultimately joined the BJP.
At the time of dissolution, the Congress strength was reduced from 26 to 14, while the BJP rose to 21 from the ten members.
The state has witnessed 13 splits since June 1999, involving 34 legislators, most of who have changed sides at least twice.
In fact, eight of the defectors have completed the full circle to join back the Congress, the party they fought for during the last assembly polls.
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