The Congress on Sunday removed Michael Lobo from the post of Leader of Opposition in Goa legislative assembly, accusing him and former chief minister Digambar Kamat of "conspiring" against the party and "hobnobbing with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to ensure a split".
"Special circumstances" exist in Punjab, Wasnik said and added that in view of these, the AAP and the Congress have decided to fight the Lok Sabha polls separately in the state.
The Congress has accused the two MLAs of hobnobbing with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to bring about a split in the opposition party.
Sawant told reporters that the Goa police is investigating the case in the right direction.
'If you weed out corruption, you will bring glory to Goa.'
Having failed its litmus test, the Bengal's ruling party is back to square one, trying to draw up a fresh strategy ahead of the polls in Meghalaya and Tripura.
'Since we defeated their evil designs on July 10, their poaching approach became more aggressive with using blackmail and money power as tools to finish off the political opposition in Goa.'
Banerjee said her microphone was stopped after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.
While none of the five 'rebel' MLAs were available for comments, sources in the BJP claimed the legislators were in touch with them.
The resignation of Kandolkar and two other leaders, who had contested on the TMC symbol, came as another setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led party which is struggling to retain its flock in Goa since the poll debacle.
A month after Sudin Dhavalikar, PWD minister in the Manohar Parrikar-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Goa, asked for a ban on bikinis on beaches, his party member Lavoo Mamledar said that if tourism had to be promoted and is necessary, then there could be a bikini beach with entry fees.
The MGP, which had won three seats in the 2017 polls, is currently left with only one MLA after two of its legislators joined the ruling BJP.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions for the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Karnataka.
'If the charge is not given immediately, we will contest all upcoming elections, that is (Assembly) by-election and Lok Sabha polls, by fielding our candidates against official candidate of the government'
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.
The BJP, which rules the Centre, is in power in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and is all set to get Madhya Pradesh back and snatch Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress after today's vote count.
29 per cent candidates have declared assets worth Rs 10 million or more in the third phase.
Subhash Velingkar floated a new party in Goa and vowed to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the coming assembly polls
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.
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.
Sawant, who took over as chief minister for the first time in March 2019, brought the BJP tantalizingly close to the simple majority mark of 21, defying pre-poll predictions of a hung assembly.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar supremo Sharad Pawar were among the famous faces who queued up at the polling booths on Tuesday to caste their votes in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
The opposition party termed the defection by eight out of its 11 MLAs in Goa only seven months after the assembly elections as the "height of betrayal and shamelessness."
The Association of Democratic Reforms said Goa has set a unique record, which is "unparalleled" in the history of Indian democracy.
With Atishi at the helm it will not be easy for the BJP to continue using the LG's office and the bureaucracy as political instruments to hinder governance and thereby provoke the electorate's ire against the AAP, expects Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Didi said her party doesn't divide people on religious lines even if they are Hindus, Muslims or Christians.
In the 2017 state assembly polls, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party by winning 17 seats.
former union minister Renuka Chowdhury said the mandate was given to the party and it was natural for its MLAs to feel bitter about not being able to form the government.
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.
According to sources, the Goa Congress unit has not held a single meeting after it failed to reach the majority mark of 21 in the 40-member assembly.
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.
"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.
A sudden downpour in Delhi caught citizens off guard and caused heavy waterlogging and traffic jams on Tuesday while Mumbai breathed a sigh of relief as showers stopped a day after heavy rain brought the metropolis to its knees.
The two would-be Dy CMs are Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar.
Congress, NCP, RJD members staged walkout in the Lok Sabha.
The Goa bench of the Bombay high court on Thursday upheld the Goa assembly speaker's order dismissing two petitions seeking the disqualification of 12 MLAs who left their respective parties and joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019.
The Congress on Saturday issued a show-cause notice to its leader Vijai Bhike after his statement blaming the ally Goa Forward Party for the poor performance in the last month's Goa assembly elections drew a sharp response from the latter.
The swearing-in ceremony of Pramod Sawant as Goa's chief minister will be held on March 28 and prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will attend the event.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one Election' as recommended by the Kovind panel, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
'Secularism is the life of Kerala, and the BJP is trying to poison this atmosphere.'
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