The two would-be Dy CMs are Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar.
The Congress has accused the two MLAs of hobnobbing with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to bring about a split in the opposition party.
The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist on Monday took a veiled dig at the Congress by asking it to safeguard its newly elected Karnataka MLAs from being poached by the Bharatiya Janata Party as was allegedly done by the saffron party in Goa amidst the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
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.
Sawant told reporters that the Goa police is investigating the case in the right direction.
'We do not oppose any parent admitting his child to any English school.' 'We are opposed to the government grants that are to be given to such institutions.' 'If local languages are to be kept alive, at least they have to be taught at the primary level.'
In both the states where the Bharatiya Janata Party came second is trying to turn the tables on the Congress to form the government.
While none of the five 'rebel' MLAs were available for comments, sources in the BJP claimed the legislators were in touch with them.
It was crucial for the BJP to bag the two seats as it does not enjoy a majority on its own in the 40-member assembly.
'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.'
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.
Didi said her party doesn't divide people on religious lines even if they are Hindus, Muslims or Christians.
The Association of Democratic Reforms said Goa has set a unique record, which is "unparalleled" in the history of Indian democracy.
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.
The Delhi BJP, however, rubbished the allegation and challenged AAP to name the MLAs and the people who contacted them with the offer.
In keeping with the trend seen elsewhere in the country so far, an all-time-high 76.82 percent of the voters exercised the franchise in the two Lok Sabha constituencies of Goa on Saturday.
In the 2017 state assembly polls, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party by winning 17 seats.
The AAP suffered a humiliating defeat in Haryana with most of its candidates set to lose their security deposit.
Amit Shah wants to increase the party's nationwide vote share by at least 10 per cent from the 37.7 per cent it secured five years ago and ensure above 50 per cent vote share in the states where it came close to that benchmark, but couldn't cross it.
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.
While the Aam Aadmi Party is contesting on four seats, the Congress has fielded candidates for the remaining three seats.
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."
Holi was celebrated with pomp and splendor across India on Friday, with people soaking in the festivities by smearing 'gulaal' on each other and exchanging greetings and sweets. Homes and streets wore a colourful look as the revellers splashed colours and feasted on traditional delicacies. Public transport did not ply in the morning in most major cities while metro services started functioning from noon. As Holi coincided with the second Friday prayers during the holy Islamic month of Ramzan, security -- including increased patrolling and picketing -- was beefed up in several states. In Delhi, more than 25,000 security personnel were deployed. Police closely monitored about 300 sensitive areas with CCTV cameras and drones.
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.
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.
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.
Technocrat-turned-politician Manohar Parrikar is all set to become chief minister of Goa for the third time after the Bharatiya Janata Party- Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party combine lapped up 24 seats to rule the 40-member house.
The United States will deport 119 Indian nationals who were living in the country illegally. The individuals will arrive in Amritsar, India, on Saturday, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted the need to combat human trafficking. This deportation follows the arrival of a US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants earlier this month. Prime Minister Modi and President Donald Trump discussed the issue of illegal immigration during their joint press conference, emphasizing the need to dismantle the "ecosystem" of human trafficking. Modi emphasized India's willingness to take back its citizens residing illegally in the US, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed that the issue of illegal immigration was raised during the discussions, stressing the need to address the root causes of the problem. India seeks cooperation from the US to dismantle the rackets and ecosystems that facilitate illegal immigration, potentially involving collaboration between law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
Hitting out at Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar for indulging in a blame game over the MVA's defeat in the state assembly, Raut said those who don't believe in consensus and compromise have no right to be in an alliance.
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.
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra in a grand ceremony at Azad Maidan in Mumbai.
The Bharatiya Janata Party demanded that the Centre should step in with a financial package to ease the impending crisis in Goa due to halting of the mining industry.
Amid cross-voting, BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan on Tuesday won the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, defeating ruling Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi, officials said.
Led by Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado, the legislators Glenn Ticlo, Carlos Almeida and Benjamin Silva were originally scheduled to travel on a state-sponsored junket to Brazil, but agreed to foot their own bill after receiving flak from across the country. They haven't till date.
Results of the Delhi assembly election are not a vindication of Prime Minister's Narendra Modi's policies but a referendum on Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress said on Saturday as it vowed to bounce back from another whitewash.
BJP leaders and allies, who met Parrikar separately, ruled out any change in leadership in the state.
Their flight landed at the Mumbai airport around 8 pm nearly 50 minutes after it took off from Dabolim airport in Goa.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
'The politics of Goa is moving around a sole entity, which is land.'
