Congress set to get weaker in Goa, three more likely to quit

| Published: Friday, October 19, 2018, 8:23 [IST]

Panaji, Oct 19: There is more trouble on the cards for the Congress in Goa. The Congress which lost two of its MLAs to the BJP recently is expected to see more exodus in the days to come.

The latest on the list of those likely to join the BJP is Pratapsingh Rane. He is likely to join the BJP if the party appoints his son, Vishwajit Rane as the next Chief Minister of Goa in place of Manohar Parrikar, who is undergoing treatment at his Dona Paula home after being discharged from AIIMS.

Congress set to get weaker in Goa, three more likely to quit

In addition to this the Congress is also likely to lose two more leaders to the Goa Forward Party, which is an ally of the BJP in Goa.

Also Read | Goa: More trouble for Congress as two more MLAs set to resign

The source said that talks have been on for a couple of weeks now. The two Congress leaders were waiting for their party to strike a deal with the GFP and form the government. However talks between the Congress and GFP constantly failed.

The two leaders felt disappointed about the talks failing as they had hoped to be part of the government after being out of power for a long time, the source also added. A major development in this regard could be expected in a couple of day and if this does happen, the Congress would see its number reducing further.

On Tuesday two MLAs of the Congress party, Dayanand Sopte and Subhash Shirodkar joined the BJP on Tuesday. With this the strength of the Congress in the 40 member house has been reduced to 14, bringing it on par with the BJP. The resignation of the two MLAs has also brought the house strength down to 38 now.

The BJP has 14 MLAs while its alliance partners Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Goa Forward Party (GFP) have three MLAs each. There are three independents who are also supporting the BJP led government.

Replacement:

Meanwhile there is talk regarding a replacement for Goa Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar, who has been unwell for sometime now. The BJP has however not taken any call on the issue relating to the replacement.

Also Read | Goa: Have majority, Parrikar must step down says Congress

A BJP source said that Parrikar could continue as the CM for as long as he wants to. As of now there is no plan to replace Parrikar. Amidst this there was talk that Goa minister, Vishwajit Rane was in the running to become the next Chief Minister of Goa. Rane, the minister for health and women and child development was credited with bringing the two Congress MLAs to the BJP. The son of four time chief minister, Pratap Singh Rane, he was called to New Delhi for discussions.