Goa Floor Test Updates: BJP wins as 23 MLAs support Manohar Parrikar while 16 oppose; Goa Budget on March 24

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will had his task cut out when the floor test was conducted in the Assembly to determine whether the BJP-led coalition would form government in the state. Parrikar, it may be remembered, had been appointed Goa chief minister on March 14, after the Goa BJP managed to get an appointment with Governor Mridula Sinha on March 12 and prove their numbers, while the Congress was caught napping despite having more seats. 

Also read: Goa power struggle: Here are the 3 floor tests that shook India

The BJP, with 13 seats, managed to garner support from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party [three MLAs], the Goa Forward Party (GFP) [three MLAs] and two Independents, bringing them to the 21-MLA mark. They would later gain the support of another Independent MLA.

However, the Congress challenged in the Supreme Court the move by the governor to invite Parrikar to form the government, and the apex court ordered an immediate floor test, instead of one 15 days after Parrikar took oath.

In the end, Parrikar managed to gain the support of 23 MLAs, while 16 voted against him in the floor test. A Congress MLA was absent from voting. Thus, Parrikar won the trust vote and continues to be in power in the state. 

Here are the Live Updates of the floor test: 

1 pm IST: The Goa Budget will be presented by the Parrikar administration on March 24. 

12:53 pm IST: Digvijaya Singh alludes to money exchanging hands once again! See what he has tweeted: 

12:48 pm IST: Parrikar takes a number of swipes at Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who had said his party would prove the numbers in the Assembly. Reacting to news of Digvijaya leaving a top post within the Congress, he says: "This happens when you come to Goa only to enjoy and not to work." Cheeky!

12:45 pm IST: The coalition dharma speaks through Parrikar.

He also speaks of how there was no "resort politics", as happened in Tamil Nadu. 

12:42 pm IST: Development it is again! That is the plank on which the BJP won UP, and that is what Parrikar is talking of when he announces a common minimum programme, that will include jobs for youths. 

Meanwhile, the case of the missing MLA is solved as Parrikar says he had the support of 23 MLAs. 

12:40 pm IST: Hang around, guys. Parrikar is addressing a press conference. 

12:32 pm IST: As expected, the BJP got the support of 22 MLAs, while 16 MLAs opposed them. Now, some are saying one MLA was absent, but that's still 39 MLAs. Where's the 40th one?

12:30 pm IST: And just like that's it's over! The BJP wins the floor test with the support of 22 MLAs.

12:10 pm IST: The BJP may have 13 MLAs of its own, but it also has the support of three MLAs each from the MGP and the GFP. Add to that the three MLAs, and the saffron party has 22 MLAs to support it in a 40-seat Assembly, well past the halfway mark. 

And if some Congress MLAs, as they have hinted, do decide to vote for the coalition, there is nothing barring a bolt from the blue that can stop Parrikar from sailing through. 

12:01 pm IST: The Congress has said it will make Parrikar set the record of being a "48-hour chief minister". However, MGP leader Vijai Sardesai has said he won't let Parrikar down, after making him resign from the post of Union defence minister so that he could become Goa chief minister again.

The manner in which Parrikar quickly left the post of Union defence minister, and how it was reassigned, shows the flexibility in the BJP leadership. 

11:50 am IST: As the swearing-in continues, here is an interesting snippet: Congress MLA Dayanad Sopte, who defeated former Goa chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar, was the first to be administered the oath of office. 

11:40 am IST: The MLAs are being sworn in, after which the floor test will begin. 

11:30 am IST: Rahul Gandhi says in Punjab, once again, that the BJP used money to gain seats in Manipur and Goa. He had just attended the swearing-in ceremony of Captain Amarinder singh and his team there. 

11:15 am IST: The Congress continues to accuse the BJP of showering money to get support. First it was Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Now it is All India Congress Committee (AICC) Secretary Girish Chodankar, who has said Rs 1,000 crore has changed hands for the BJP to get the support of MLAs. 

11 am IST: The proceedings of the House have all but started, and the floor test will begin any time now. 

10:50 am IST: BJP sources are telling news channels some Congress MLAs are in touch with them. Getting ready to leave a sinking ship, most likely. If this is not a damning indictment of what the Congress has become, then there is little else. 

Meanwhile, the Congress leadership still harbours hope. It has said that the appointment of Sidharth Kunkalienkar as protem speaker has violated the Supreme Court order. Whether that is the case can become apparent only if and when the Congress approaches the apex court again. 

10:40 am IST: Congress MLA Vishwajeet Rane says he is "still with the Congress." Is there a defection coming? 

10:30 am IST: BJP MLA Sidharth Kunkalienkar, who was elected from the Panaji constituency, has been appointed protem speaker of the Goa Assembly so that the floor test can be conducted. 

10 am IST: Just one hour to go before the floor test begins. What has already begun are calls for an overhaul within the Congress. 

9:35 am IST: Manohar Parrikar is in the House! The Goa chief minister reaches the Assembly for the floor test. 

9:30 am IST: If the Congress loses this floor test, it will have to do some real soul-searching on from when it got things wrong. One of the first places would be March 12, when the BJP stole the march from it. 

9 am IST: A special Assembly session has been convened for the floor test. If the BJP wins this one, it remains in power, but the Opposition may already have an issue with which to attack the BJP-led coalition. The nude body of an Irish woman had been found on a beach after she had attended Holi celebrations in the state. The matter has international diplomatic ramifications, and the Opposition will love to corner the government on this. 

8:30 am IST: The Congress will have its strategy cut out: Get either the MGP or the GFP — or even one of their MLAs — to withdraw support. Or try it with the two independents supporting the BJP. If the saffron party has no one else to support it, that could spell doom for the two-day-old government. 

8 am IST: Three hours to go, and the BJP look confident when it comes to proving its numbers in the Assembly.