The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), which contested the Goa Assembly elections for the first time this year, failed to make a mark in the coastal state.
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 party, which ruled the tiny state for 17 years and won five Assembly elections post-Goa liberation in 1961, finds itself in a tight spot in the changed political scenario.
Rediff Labs analysed the 2012 Goa assembly election results and merged it with 2014 Lok sabha election results to develop a Sentiment Meter for the 2017 electoral battle.
Dhavalikar belongs to the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Sardesai is chief of Goa Forward Party.
Sudin Dhavalikar hit back, terming the development as "dacoity by chowkidars".
Days after his minister brother triggered a controversy by demanding a ban on wearing bikinis on Goa's beaches, Cooperation Minister Dipak Dhavalikar on Thursday appeared to have waded into another, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi will develop India into a Hindu nation.
Many of the Congress stalwarts including four from Churchill Alemao family and state party chief Subhas Shirodkar bit the dust as the Bharatiya Janata Party-Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party alliance on Tuesday managed to bag majority of seats in Goa assembly elections.
In their resignation letter to All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) chief Mamata Banerjee, the departing leaders said, 'We had thought that the AITC is a secular party but with deep regret, we would like to bring to your notice that AITC has tried to divide Goans on the basis of religion by aligning with Sudan Dhavalikar.'
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday inducted six more ministers in his Cabinet, including four legislators from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
A day before being tabled in Goa legislative assembly, the Manohar Parrikar-led Public Accounts Committee report on illegal mining in the state has run into controversy after Congress party legislators on the committee refused to sign it on Tuesday.
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.
With the date for the Goa assembly poll results nearing, the Congress has said it is open to a post-poll alliance with parties other than the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the next government, if it does not get a majority on its own.
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.
Cashing-in on the anti-incumbency factor in a big way, the Bharatiya Janata Party-Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party combine on Wednesday rode to power in Goa, ousting the Congress and securing majority in a House of 40 members, nearly half of whom will be new faces.
Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Tuesday resigned following the humiliating defeat of Congress in the assembly election.
Speaker Pratapsingh Rane will play a major role in Monday.
As per the power-sharing arrangement, Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar will be the deputy chief ministers.
State Congress chief Girish Chodankar told reporters that AAP leaders were 'already in talks with Congress leaders'.
The discussions on the new Goa CM came to a halt after Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar wanted to be the chief minister.
Nearly three months after joining the Trinamool Congress, former Goa legislator Lavoo Mamlatdar on Friday resigned from the party, accusing it of being communal and trying to create a divide between Hindus and Christians for votes ahead of the state Assembly polls.
Soon after assuming office, Meghwal declared that there was no confrontation with the judiciary and that his priority would be to ensure speedy justice for all.
There have been speculations since some time about a rift between the TMC and Prashant Kishor's I-PAC.
A potpourri of political parties are in the fray in Goa.
From steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal to billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, and a lesser-known Future Gaming and Hotel Services were among the prominent buyers of the now-scrapped electoral bonds for making political donations.
The two would-be Dy CMs are Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar.
Tourism Minister Ajgaonkar also said that Goa does not want tourists who sell narcotics in the state.
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.
Earlier, BJP leader Ram Lal said the Goa government is stable and no demand has been made for a change in the leadership.
BJP leader and caretaker chief minister Pramod Sawant is the clear favourite for the post of the CM but faces some opposition.
Vishwajit Rane, who had unsuccessfully lobbied for the CM's post, has been given crucial Health and Town and Country Planning Portfolios along with Urban Development, Women and Child, and Forest departments.
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.
Both Sawant and Rane are being seen as top contenders for the post of chief minister in the state.
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.
The vote share of the Congress, which won 11 assembly seats in Goa this time, plunged by nearly five per cent as compared to what it was in the previous election, while the BJP, which retained power in the coastal state, saw a marginal rise in it, the data shared by the Election Commission shows.
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