Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who took charge on March 14, will have to prove his majority on the floor of the House on Thursday, March 16.
Parrikar was sworn in as the chief minister of Goa after the Supreme Court refused to stay the swearing-in ceremony of the former defence minister and also ordered a floor test on March 16 in the Goa Assembly. Nine other MLAs also took oath as ministers in the Goa government amid protests by citizens and Congress party workers outside the Governor's house.
The Congress had moved Supreme Court on Monday evening alleging that the BJP had gone ahead and staked claim to form government in Goa despite not having the numbers.
Ahead of the Goa floor test, let's take a look at three floor tests that shook India.
Tamil Nadu Floor Test:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapadi K Palaniswamy had to face a floor test in the state assembly and prove his majority to form government after late CM Jayalalithaa passed away and the AIADMK witnessed a break within the party between former CM O Panneerselvam and Amma's close aide Sasikala Natarajan.
Palaniswamy, who belonged to the Sasikala camp, won the trust vote with 122 MLAs voting for him, while Panneerselvam could get the support of only 11 MLAs.
Ahead of the floor test, Sasikala had sent over 130 MLAs to a resort in Chennai, allegedly taken away their phones and barred them from calling anyone or speaking to the media fearing that they might switch sides. Heavy police deployment was also seen outside the resort.
Panneerselvam claimed that the MLAs were held "hostage" inside the resort until they were brought to Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao for a show of strength. A couple of MLAs managed to escape the resort, while a few switched sides and joined the Panneerselvam camp.
Arunachal Pradesh Floor Test:
The state saw three chief ministers in 2016. The late Kalikho Pul was the CM of the state from February 19, 2016, to July 13, 2016. He had alleged that there was financial mismanagement within the government, which was led by then CM Nabam Tuki, after he was dropped as the Health and Family Welfare Minister during the Cabinet reshuffle. The Congress expelled Pul accusing him of indulging in anti-party activities.
When the Governor ordered for the summoning of the sixth session of Assembly in January 2016, Congress MLAs demanded for a resolution to remove the Deputy Speaker, while BJP MLAs demanded a resolution to remove the Speaker. Soon, Speaker Nabam Rebia was removed and a new one was appointed.
Rebel Congress MLAs then held a meeting and voted against Tuki and elected Pul as the CM of Arunachal Pradesh. Rebia moved Gauhati High Court to keep Assembly and other developments in abeyance. The case was then referred to the Supreme Court which further referred it to the Constitutional Bench. President's Rule was established in the state after Congress moved SC and the Union Cabinet also ruled in favour of the same.
Tuki later filed fresh plea in SC against President's Rule following which the Congress' plea for floor test in the Assembly was rejected. President's Rule was lifted and Pul was sworn in as the new CM. Tuki resigned as CM while Pema Khandu was elected as the chief of the Congress Legislature Party following which he was sworn in as the CM of the state. Pul committed suicide in August 2016.
Khandu, however, quit Congress along with 43 other MLAs and joined the People's Party of Arunachal Pradesh (PPA) in September 2016 leaving the Congress with only three MLAs in the Assembly. The state then had a government by the PPA with Khandu as the CM. He changed party for the third time when he left the PPA and joined the BJP in December 2016.
Arunachal Pradesh now has a chief minister from the BJP.
Uttarakhand Floor Test:
Uttarakhand, a state created out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000, faced a political crisis when nine MLAs of the Congress Party led by Vijay Bahuguna, along with 27 BJP MLAs, rebelled against Chief Minister Harish Rawat and requested the governor to dismiss the Congress government. The BJP accused him of being involved in a liquor scam and loot during the floods in 2013. The party accused him of changing the state's excise policy to help private firms.
Rawat was removed from the CM's post for a short duration and President's Rule was imposed in the state in March 2016 before he won the trust vote in the floor of the House with 33 of the 61 MLAs voting for him. The rebel MLAs later joined the BJP. President's Rule was also revoked in May 2016.
