Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday held a meeting of his cabinet where it was decided to recommend dissolution of the current Assembly on March 14, while differences appeared to have cropped up in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over seeking support from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party for forming the new government.
On Thursday, the BJP emerged as the single largest party by winning 20 seats in the 40-member assembly, just one short of the majority mark, and later said it has secured support from regional outfit MGP, which bagged two seats, and all the three newly-elected Independent MLAs, putting it in a comfortable in terms of numbers.
Talking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said BJP ministers passed a resolution thanking the people of the state for once again reposing faith in the party which will be forming its government in Goa for a third straight term.
"We met to thank the people for a resounding victory of the party. During the meeting, a resolution was moved to thank the people of the state," he said.
"The meeting chaired by CM Sawant decided to recommend to the state governor dissolution of the House on Monday," Rane added.
The tenure of the outgoing assembly is scheduled to end on March 15 and its dissolution will pave the way for constitution of a new House and kick-start process to form the next government.
Revenue minister Jeniffer Monserratte said the cabinet will also be dissolved on Monday.
The party is yet to stake claim to form the government or elect leader of the new legislature wing and is waiting for central observers to arrive in Goa.
BJP's Goa election in-charge Devendra Fadanavis had told reporters on Thursday evening that a decision on leadership and timing of swearing-in of the new cabinet will be decided by the party's central leadership.
Meanwhile, some newly-elected BJP MLAs in Goa are against accepting the support of the MGP for government formation, sources said on Friday.
State BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade declined to comment on the MGP support issue and maintained a decision on the matter will be taken by the party high command.
Chief Minister Sawant had on Thursday said the regional outfit had offered an "unconditional" support to the BJP though he did not clarify whether the MGP will be given representation in the new cabinet.
BJP sources said some MLAs, including Ravi Naik, Govind Gaude and Mauvin Godinho, have expressed strong objection to including the MGP in the government.
The MGP, Goa's oldest regional outfit which has allied with the BJP in the past, contested the February 14 assembly elections in a tie-up with the Trinamool Congress. The Mamata Bnaerjee-led TMC drew a blank.
But after the results were declared on Thursday and it became clear that the BJP would be only one seat short of the majority mark, the MGP offered support to the saffron party.
Even without the MGP, the BJP has a comfortable majority with the three Independent MLAs offering their support.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with defeated BJP candidates in Panaji, Tanavade said the party took a stock of the situation in the constituencies where it lost.
The losing candidates explained the reasons for their defeat and resolved to work for the party with a renewed vigour, he added.
Sawant said all the defeated candidates will continue working for the pary.
The BJP contested on all the 40 assembly seats and won half of them, in the process posting a marginal rise in its vote share. The BJP's vote share went up from 32.5 per cent in 2017 to 33.3 per cent this time, according to Election Commission data.
The opposition Congress, which was hoping for a good show this time after losing the race for forming government in 2017, bagged 11 seats (down from 17 five years ago), while its ally GFP emerged victorious in one assembly segment.
As per the data, the Congress's vote share slipped from 28.4 per cent in 2017 to 23.5 per cent this time.
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