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.
Sawant on Tuesday said his government had sought a floor test on Wednesday to prove its strength in the assembly.
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.
'The Kerala BJP leadership is doing the job of clerical staff. What the boss orders, they just follow them.'
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.
'We don't want hardcores like Pramod Muthalik in Goa. We vehemently oppose people who share Muthalik's tendencies. We don't need cultural watchdogs in Goa.' BJP MLA Vishnu Wagh lashes out at Goa's anti-bikini minister Sudin Dhavalikar in this exclusive interview to Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is tipped to become the Union defence minister, on Saturday tendered his resignation from the post paving way for the appointment of his successor in the state.
Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.
Sources said the Goa Appropriation Bill, 2008 could be under threat when it is taken up in the assembly, which is now in session if the mood of some of the ruling coalition's legislators, including the Nationalist Congress Party's ministers, is any indication.
"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.
Hazare in a statement accused Kejriwal of betraying the trust of crores of countrymen and rued that political ambitions destroyed the 2011 anti-corruption movement.
Speaker Pratapsingh Rane will play a major role in Monday.
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who support Shinde returned to Mumbai from Goa on Saturday evening on the eve of the Assembly session, and were lodged in a luxury hotel in south Mumbai, where Vidhan Bhavan, venue of the floor test, is located.
Sources said the panel has also recommended that boys and girls will have equal inheritance rights, registration of marriages will be made mandatory and the marriageable age for girls would be increased so that they can become graduates before marriage.
The assembly polls are seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, especially in the wake of demonetisation.
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.
Manohar Parrikar, who spearheaded Bharatiya Janata Party's emphatic win in assembly polls with majority of its own for the first time, today took oath as chief minister of Goa at the head of a 6-member coalition government.
In the 40-member Goa assembly, Kamat government enjoys the support of 26 MLAs-- Congress' 18 MLAs NCP's 3, Maharashtra Gomantak Party's 2, United Goa Democratic Party's one and two independents and if the 12 MLAs withdraw support, the Kamat ministry will be reduced to a minority.
Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and all Congress members in his cabinet figure in the party's first list of 22 candidates for the March 3 assembly polls, which was announced in Panaji on Saturday. The list contains two new faces, but the party has sprung a surprise by denying a ticket to Victoria Fernandes, the Congress' lone woman legislator. Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Subhash Shirodkar said the second and final list of 11 nominees will be announced on Sunday
The Act says the Legislative Assembly of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir may make laws for the whole or any part of the Union Territory with respect to any of the matters enumerated in the state list of the Constitution except the subjects mentioned in entries one and two -- 'public order' and 'police' respectively -- or the Concurrent List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
Five Congress legislators, who have been lobbying against Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat, have decided to meet assembly Speaker Pratapsingh Rane to urge him to take charge of the top post, sources close to them said on Wednesday. The legislators are backed by a group of seven legislators including three from the Nationalist Congress Party, two from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, one from the United Goans Democratic party and an independent, they said.
Parrikar has been admitted to the AIIMS for follow-up treatment reportedly for a pancreatic ailment.
Parrikar returned to Goa as the chief minister for the fourth time, though he could not complete full terms in his earlier stints.
However, the action is not going to have any impact as the arithmetic still favours the Congress, which has 17 MLAs in a House of 34. The BJP has 16.
While Karnataka Congress chief D K Sivakumar will be special observer in Goa, party general secretary Mukul Wasnik and Chhattisgarh Health Minister T S Singh Deo besides Vincent Pala have been deputed in Manipur for post-poll management, the sources said.
'BJP central observers have come to Goa and are scheming to merge smaller parties within their party to run the government.'
In a video message, Parrikar, 62, appealed people to continue praying for his health.
The Tamil Nadu assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution urging the Centre to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 to protect and ensure unity and communal harmony and uphold the secular principles enshrined in the Constitution.
'We have not decided yet if we will be joining hands with the BJP and, if so, what kind of ministries will be distributed among the rebel MLAs'
Justifying its stand on scrapping of Special Economic Zones projects in Goa, the state government has said the Centre has the power to denotify those which are not operational within the stipulated timeframe.
Independent MLA Govind Gawde supporting the BJP's effort to form the next Goa government confirms that defence minister told him he will be the next Goa chief minister
An Allahabad high court bench of Justice Shekhar Yadav had on Thursday last urged the government and the poll panel to consider postponing the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections for a month or two and banning all political rallies amid the fears of an impending third wave of Covid.
'Our numbers were less (than BJP's) but PM Narendra Modi blessed us. Modi Saheb told me before the swearing-in that he will extend all possible help to me. Amit Shah Saheb said he will stand behind us like a rock,' Shinde said. 'But the biggest kalakar (artist) is this one,' Shinde said, pointing to Fadnavis sitting to his right on the treasury benches.
'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.'
The two rival Senas took over each other a day after the party's 57th foundation day celebrations which saw Thackeray and Shinde holding separate events in Mumbai and trading charges.
While former minister and MLA Aravind Limbavali's wife Manjula Arvind Limbavali has got the ticket for the Mahadevapura constituency, the party has fielded Katta Jagadish, son of former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu from Hebbal.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances