The Association of Democratic Reforms said Goa has set a unique record, which is "unparalleled" in the history of Indian democracy.
With just over a month to go for assembly elections in Goa, political observers feel the Congress may upset the Bharatiya Janata Party's plans for retaining power in the coastal state, but appear less enthused about the Trinamool Congress, whose entry has added colour to the poll campaign.
We want to make a non-BJP political front in this country, Raut said.
Both the BJP and the Congress said they will seek support of the MGP in case they fall short of the majority mark of 21.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which entered the fray with much fanfare, failed to make any impact at the hustings.
The TMC, which is keen to leave a mark in its outing in Goa, had suggested a broad alliance but not much has moved on the proposal due to competing interests and apparent lack of faith between the opposition parties.
They said this was preliminary voter turnout and the final figure may cross 80 per cent as electoral fate of 301 candidates were locked in EVMs which will be opened on March 10 for counting.
Yuri Alemao, Altone D'costa and advocate Carlos Alvares Ferreira, the three Congress MLAs who didn't join the eight of their former party men in jumping ship speak up about their decisions and their motivations to stay with the 137-year-old Congress.
Chidambaram, who is the Congress' senior election observer for the assembly polls next year, asserted that the Trinamool Congress' entry into Goa "appears to be an imposition from the top that is based in West Bengal" and said he does not know the Mamata Banerjee-led party's motive in trying to start a unit in Goa by "encouraging defections" from other parties.
Chidambaram, who is the Congress' senior election observer for the Goa Assembly polls, also hit out at the Trinamool Congress for its barbs at the Congress for not forging an alliance with it, saying the party continued to poach Congress leaders, despite making an offer of a tie-up.
Michael Lobo, who resigned as deputy speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly, and three of the 10 MLAs who joined the BJP -- Chandrakant Kavlekar, Jeniffer Monserratte, Philip Neri Rodrigues -- were sworn in as new ministers.
Campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
Earlier, BJP leader Ram Lal said the Goa government is stable and no demand has been made for a change in the leadership.
With the BJP's strength in the 40-member Goa assembly increasing to 27 with two-thirds of Congress legislators joining it, the Sawant government does not need allies' support any longer.
Sardesai is the second member of the cabinet after health minister Vishwajit Rane to talk about the exact nature of Parrikar's illness.
Parrikar asked voters to take money from other parties but vote for the BJP.
The two-time MLA from Sankhalim in North Goa, Sawant, who was speaker of the state assembly, is a dedicated Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker.
The opposition party had earlier written to Sinha, staking claim to form the government on Friday and then again on Sunday.
The death of the former defence minister, who represented the Panaji assembly seat, will also necessitate a fourth bypoll in Goa.
A BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, said all party MLAs have been asked not to leave the state.
While the Congress currently has 14 MLAs, down from 16 after Sopte and Shirodkar left it to join the BJP, the latter has 13 MLAs.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Saturday trained her guns on the Congress, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become more powerful as the grand old party is not serious about politics, and alleged that the country is suffering because that party does not take decisions.
If pandemic (mis)management threatened to dominate Goa's electoral discourse, the BJP is up against a deeper structural issue in its organisation, created by the fact that a majority of the legislature party and the ministerial council is made up of Congress defectors, disparagingly referred to by the Opposition as "imports". Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
The group, led by Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, met Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar in the evening and gave him a letter, informing him about their breaking away from the party.
Besides 11 members from BJP, three each from the Goa Forward Party, the MGP and independents supported Sawant during the head count conducted in the House.
The chief minister has been in the US for treatment of a pancreatic ailment since March this year.
In the last two-and-a half years, the Congress has lost 13 of its MLAs to the BJP which now enjoys an overwhelming majority in the assembly.
The discussions on the new Goa CM came to a halt after Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar wanted to be the chief minister.
A senior state BJP leader had said earlier in the day that Sawant would induct BJP MLA and Deputy Speaker of Goa Assembly Michael Lobo, and three of the ten MLAs who have switched over from the Congress.
Besides the SAD, the SP, the AIADMK and the TRS supported the idea; while the AAP, the TDP, the JD-S, the AIFB, the DMK, the TMC, the GFP and Left parties opposed it.
The culling of key state leaders and bureaucrats has given rise to distrust and uneasiness in Pramod Sawant's style of functioning, notes Aditi Phadnis.
'Parrikar is living for Modi and Shah, not for his motherland or Goa'
Parrikar will stay at his private residence in Panaji,
The development comes at a time when Parrikar, 62, is undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
Newly formed Goa Forward party has opposed the release of a book on Mahatma Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse scheduled for Saturday.
"The BJP is in the best position to form the government, I am confident of getting necessary support from others," the former Goa chief minister said.
'Across the political spectrum, especially from the side of the NDA itself, there is complete disillusionment (with the way the BJP is treating its allies).' 'This leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.'
"By next week, the government will work out the exact arrangement through which the work burden on Parrikar could be reduced," he said.
The BJP's rediscovery of its allies, including the PM touching the feet of Parakash Singh Badal, would be interpreted as the party's efforts to keep its flock together if it falls short of the majority mark on May 23.
'The BJP has proved that it is a threat to all its allies'
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