<p>Criticised for his failure to install a Congress government in Goa, party general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Friday said his efforts were “sabotaged by our own leaders”. <br /><br />In a damage-control exercise, Singh asserted that there was no delay in electing the leader of the Congress Legislature Party, saying a meeting of the newly elected MLAs was convened on March 12, the day after the results of the Assembly polls were declared.<br /><br />The Congress emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats in the 40-seat Goa Assembly, while the BJP finished with 13. <br /><br />However, the saffron party made quick moves to ensure that it had the support of the smaller parties and the independents. <br /><br />Singh also slammed Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, who claimed in an interview that she consulted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before inviting Manohar Parrikar to form the government. <br /><br />“As a strategy, I had proposed a secular alliance with regional party headed by Babush Monserrate and Goa Forward headed by Vijay Sardesai. Our alliance with Babush went through and we won 3 out of 5 but our alliance with Goa Forward was sabotaged by our own leaders. Sad,” Singh said in a series of tweets.<br /><br />Later, interacting with the media in Parliament, Singh accused Union Minister Nitin Gadkari of indulging in horse-trading to cobble up the numbers to form the government in Goa.<br /><br />The Congress had struck a pre-poll understanding with the Goa Forward Party, which won three seats. <br /><br />But it eventually supported Parrikar, who was sworn in as the chief minister on Tuesday and proved his majority in the Assembly on Thursday.<br /><br />“Goa Forward won 3 out of 4 (seats) they contested. Had our alliance with Goa Forward gone through we would have been 22. Still Digvijaya guilty? I leave it to you to judge,” Singh’s tweet read.<br /><br />He also pointed out that traditionally the party in power at the Centre formed governments in Goa whenever there was a fractured mandate. <br /><br />In 1994 and 2007, when elections in the state threw up a hung Assembly, the Congress, which was in power at the Centre, managed to form the government. <br /></p>
<p>Criticised for his failure to install a Congress government in Goa, party general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Friday said his efforts were “sabotaged by our own leaders”. <br /><br />In a damage-control exercise, Singh asserted that there was no delay in electing the leader of the Congress Legislature Party, saying a meeting of the newly elected MLAs was convened on March 12, the day after the results of the Assembly polls were declared.<br /><br />The Congress emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats in the 40-seat Goa Assembly, while the BJP finished with 13. <br /><br />However, the saffron party made quick moves to ensure that it had the support of the smaller parties and the independents. <br /><br />Singh also slammed Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, who claimed in an interview that she consulted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before inviting Manohar Parrikar to form the government. <br /><br />“As a strategy, I had proposed a secular alliance with regional party headed by Babush Monserrate and Goa Forward headed by Vijay Sardesai. Our alliance with Babush went through and we won 3 out of 5 but our alliance with Goa Forward was sabotaged by our own leaders. Sad,” Singh said in a series of tweets.<br /><br />Later, interacting with the media in Parliament, Singh accused Union Minister Nitin Gadkari of indulging in horse-trading to cobble up the numbers to form the government in Goa.<br /><br />The Congress had struck a pre-poll understanding with the Goa Forward Party, which won three seats. <br /><br />But it eventually supported Parrikar, who was sworn in as the chief minister on Tuesday and proved his majority in the Assembly on Thursday.<br /><br />“Goa Forward won 3 out of 4 (seats) they contested. Had our alliance with Goa Forward gone through we would have been 22. Still Digvijaya guilty? I leave it to you to judge,” Singh’s tweet read.<br /><br />He also pointed out that traditionally the party in power at the Centre formed governments in Goa whenever there was a fractured mandate. <br /><br />In 1994 and 2007, when elections in the state threw up a hung Assembly, the Congress, which was in power at the Centre, managed to form the government. <br /></p>
