The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) on Friday, 12 April, decided to withdraw its support to Goa’s BJP-led coalition government, reported The Hindu.
This move comes after the regional partner found itself having just a single member in the State’s Assembly after BJP poached two of its three MLAs.
Party President Dipak Dhavalikar told The Hindu that the party had decided to support Congress candidates in both the State’s Lok Sabha seats and to back the Congress’ Sudhir Kandolkar in the Mapusa by-election.
“The party will decide on who to support against BJP in Mandrem constituency bypoll in next two days. But surely we will support the strongest of the candidates, Congress or otherwise. We are going all out to defeat BJP candidates in the 23 April election to teach the party a lesson for splitting the MGP and sacking senior leader Sudin Dhavlikar unceremoniously from the coalition government.”Dipak Dhavalikar, Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party (MGP) president
Last month, when Pramod Sawant took over as chief minister, Sudin Dhavalikar of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party was made the deputy chief minister. But he was dropped from the state Cabinet after a week, when the other two MLAs of his party joined the BJP.
Once the MGP withdraws support, the strength of the BJP-led coalition would decline to 20 in the 36-member truncated house of 40. The government has support from 14 BJP MLAs, three members of the Goa Forward Party and three independents.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)