Manohar Parrikar thanks Congress' Digvijaya Singh for BJP's victory in Goa
'He was in the state but did nothing, so I was able to form the government', the chief minister said.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday took a jibe at the Congress during his farewell speech in the Rajya Sabha, thanking party leader Digvijaya Singh for failing to form a government in the state and thus giving the BJP the opportunity to come to power, reported PTI. The Congress got more seats in the recently concluded state elections, but the BJP formed a government with allies.
“My special thanks to honourable member Digvijaya Singh, who happened to be in Goa but did nothing so that I could form the government,” Parrikar said. “He was roaming around in Goa and I was able to form the government in Goa.”
Parrikar resigned from his post as the defence minister to become the chief minister of his home state. He was sworn in on March 14. Right after that, he also won the trust vote in the state Assembly.
The trust vote was facilitated by the Supreme Court after the Congress had challenged the BJP’s claim that it had the numbers to form the government. The party had claimed that it should have been invited first to form the government in the state, since it was the single largest party. The Congress won 17 seats in the 40-member Assembly, the BJP won 13.