The new five-member alliance in Goa led by the BJP approached Governor S C Jamir on Friday to press for a vote of confidence on Monday to test the strength of the beleaguered Digamber Kamat government.

BJP leader Manohar Parrikar said it was incumbent upon the governor under Article 175 to direct Speaker Pratapsingh Rane to call for a trust vote which would prove that the Congress-led government had been reduced to a minority.

“The governor has promised us that he would go by the Constitution and follow precedent. We apprehend that the Speaker will try to adjourn the House again, depriving the Goa Democratic Alliance a chance to form the government,” he said.

Mr Parrikar is making a bid for power with the support of the MGP, the Save Goa Front, the UGDP and an independent. The grouping enjoys a sliver of a majority: 20 members in a House of 39 (taking into account Congress MLA Victoria Fernandes’ resignation). This fact is likely to weigh heavily on whatever decision the governor takes to resolve the latest political crisis in Goa.

The BJP has, meanwhile, flown its members to Mumbai for safekeeping even as the Congress corralled its lot into a five star hotel in North Goa. Goa went through a short spell of President’s rule under Governor Jamir in early 2005 when four members resigned to bring down Mr Parrikar’s government.

Mr Parrikar may have scored a tactical victory over Mr Kamat in the numbers game at the moment, but his tie-up with Mr Churchill Alemao of the SGF and Mr Babush Monserrate of the UGDP has made many in the BJP uneasy, given Mr Monserrate’s dismal public image over land conversions and muscle power.

Mr Alemao who is intent on pushing for official language status to Konkani in the Roman script and opposed to Marathi also shares an uneasy relationship with both the BJP and MGP on many crucial issues.

Mr Parrikar had a hard time explaining to the media his change of heart on the two members both of whom he had severely lambasted in the run-up to the June election.