The Congress Party seems to have more trouble on its hands after letting Goa slip through its fingers. Party infighting emerged as Madhya Pradesh MP, and Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury, blamed General Secretary Digvijaya Singh for the Congress’ failure to win a majority in Goa.
The party needed only 4 more seats in Goa to attain a majority of 21. The Congress had managed an impressive 17 seats to the BJP’s tally of 13. However, the three parties that won the remaining 10 seats were convinced by the BJP to enter a coalition with the ruling party, and form the majority the government.
The move served as a major source of embarrassment for the party, who managed to come out with the most seats in the state after the elections.
According to The Financial Express, Chowdhury wanted general secretary to take the blame for the loss, citing his inability to gain the four seats needed to form a majority in the state. She labelled the entire debacle ‘stupid’ and called for Singh’s resignation from the party.
Congress MLA Vishwajit Rane mulled the party’s ‘slow’ decision-making, and put the blame of the failure on the Congress leadership.
Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi also bemoaned the party’s inefficiency saying “we (Congress) didn’t act when we should have, what’s the point of doing anything now?”
On Sunday, the BJP said it has enlisted the support of three members, each of the GFP and MGP, besides two Independents to reach 21 MLAs — the number needed to prove majority in the 40-member House. Former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is said to be sworn-in as the Chief Minister on Tuesday evening as his party, the BJP, had given letters of support of 21 MLAs to the Governor.
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