The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday proved its majority in a trust vote in the 40-seat Goa Assembly. Even before the vote, the party, which had won 13 seats, had managed to get 21 legislators in total in its favour, after three Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLAs, three Goa Forward Party MLAs and two Independent legislators said they would support it.

Events that led up to the floor test:

  • March 11: Congress wins 17 seats in the Goa Assembly, emerges the single largest party in the state, but fails to garner the support of four more MLAs to make it over the halfway mark. 
  • March 12: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar stakes BJP’s claim to form the government.
  • March 13: Congress moves Supreme Court, challenging Parrikar’s appointment as Goa chief minister, and claims the governor should have been invited their party first to form government as it won the highest number of seats. During the hearing on Tuesday, the Congress alleges that the BJP engaged in horse trading and violating established constitutional practices. Counsel for the Congress Abhishek Singhvi says that a governor cannot nullify the people’s mandate and not even give a call to the largest party.
  • March 13: Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has taken several potshots at Parrikar and the BJP, but has been blamed by some Congress members for not managing to get allies to form the government. He sarcastically expresses his sympathies for Parrikar, seemingly for his apparent demotion from the defence portfolio. Singh also points out for some reason that seven of the BJP’s 13 MLAs are Roman Catholic. He told Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Twitter that his outlook would now need to be “pro-Christian”.  
  • March 13: Parrikar resigns as the defence minister. Parrikar, 61, had served as the Goa CM before. His last term was cut short when he was given the Defence Ministry portfolio in November 2014. He was succeeded by Laxmikant Parsekar, who had not manage to keep the party’s allies in Goa happy.
  • March 14: Supreme Court allows Manohar Parrikar to be sworn in as Goa chief minister, rebukes Congress for undermining a governor’s authority, and orders a floor test in the Goa Assembly. 
  • March 14: Parrikar is sworn in as the Goa chief minister, nine other ministers take oath. Of the nine ministers, only three including Parrikar are from the BJP. The BJP has given several cabinet berths to its allies, making it unlikely that the allies would vote in favour of the Congress.
  • March 15: Congress protests against BJP legislator Sidharth Kuncalienker being made the Pro-Tem Speaker, who serves as an interim Speaker till one is elected. 
  • March 15: Congress leaders blame senior party leader Digvijay Singh for failing to secure allies to form government.
  • March 16: Goa Forward Party leader Vijay Sardesai says he will not “backstab” Parrikar by voting against him. He lauds Parrikar’s move to relinquish the defence portfolio to return to the state.
  • March 16: BJP wins floor test in Goa Assembly, Parrikar remains the chief minister. Twenty-two MLAs voted for him.