Alemao’s return to the Congress, eight months after he left to launch his own regional outfit, will take the Congress count in the House to 18 members, giving it a majority of 21 with the Nationalist Congress Party (3) in the 40-member assembly. Ms Gandhi’s political advisors Ahmed Patel and B K Hariprasad were also present at Monday’s meeting with Alemao, the Goa CM and PCC chief Francisco Sardinha.

The Congress has so far not cleared unattached MLA Babush Monserrate’s return to the party.

The MLA had been expelled by the United Goans Democratic Party for supporting the Congress-led coalition.

The SGF’s merger with the Congress ensures Alemao retains his PWD portfolio and seniority in the Cabinet and offers a host of corporation posts for the regional party’s functionaries. Alemao told Deccan Herald from Delhi that his return would make the Congress “stronger”. The SGF’s nuisance value in the June 2007 election had cost the Congress-NCP alliance 7 seats. “The Congress fulfilled three of my four demands: It scrapped the regional plan and the SEZs and retained Dabolim airport. The chief minister assured me Konkani in the Roman script would also get its due,” he said.

Alemao’s brother Joaquim, also a minister in the Congress government here met with the Congress president on Monday. The Alemaos also wanted an assurance from the Congress that both brothers would get Congress tickets in the next election.

The SGF merger marginalizes the bargaining power of the three NCP MLAs who held the government to ransom for three days.

 Independent MLA Vishwajeet Rane, son of Speaker Pratapsingh Rane who was instrumental in instigating Wednesday’s political moves which pushed the 7-month-old coalition government to the brink, also finds himself completely sidelined in the new power equations.