Amid hung Assembly prediction in Goa, Congress back to resort politics to avoid 2017 Redux

Panaji, Mar 08: In an attempt to scuttle horse trading and to avoid recurrence of the 2017 fiasco, the Congress top brass has asked its Goa candidates to stay on the outskirts of the city until Thursday afternoon prior to the declaration of assembly elections results.

According to a report of local daily, local leadership has asked all Congress candidates to move to a resort in Bambolim by Tuesday evening and remain there till the counting day.

Congress leader Satej Patil, who is also Maharashtra's Minister of State for Home (Urban), has been also entrusted with the responsibility of keeping Congress candidates together.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar, who played a crucial role during the 2018 Rajasthan election, has also been dispatched to Goa. "I am sure on March 10, Congress will form the government in Goa...people want change. I will be in Goa to assist the leaders," he told ANI.

In the 2017 Goa election, many Congress MLAs had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Despite becoming the single largest party, the Congress could not form the government in Goa.

Congress won 17 of 40 seats but due to slow decision-making, the BJP formed the government in the state with the help of smaller parties and Independents despite winning 13 seats. In terms of vote share, BJP triumphed Congress by winning 32.48 per cent of the total vote share, which was four per cent more than that of the Congress.

The BJP, however, managed to form the government as it claimed to have letters of support from Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Independents, which took the tally up to 21 - the majority mark.