Goa Assembly Elections 2022: Instability and defections mark Goa's electoral history

India’s smallest state, Goa, is deciding the fate of 301 candidates today in the 2022 Assembly elections. The first ever elections in Goa after it was liberated from the Portuguese rule in 1961, was held in December 1963. Since then, Goa has transitioned from a Union Territory (UT) to become a full state in 1987. Take a look at the electoral history of the state, which has been marked by volatility and defections. 2017: Steered by late Manohar Parrikar, who was the defence minister then, the BJP outmanoeuvred Congress by cobbling together a ruling coalition with parties like the Maharashrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the Vijai Sardesai-led Goa Forward Party (GFP) and two independent MLAs. Interestingly, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats, but was unable to stitch up alliances quickly and hence, left out in the cold. Manohar Parrikar died in March 2019 after losing his battle with pancreatic cancer. The BJP picked Pramod Sawant, ex-Speaker and party loyalist with the RSS background, to succeed him. Later, in 2019, 10 MLAs from the Congress and two from the MGP defected to the BJP, giving the saffron party a full majority of 27 MLAs. 2012: The BJP-MGP alliance defeated the incumbent Congress government in Goa led by Chief Minister Digambar Kamat with 24 seats in the 40-seat assembly. The Bharatiya Janata Party won 21 seats, while the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party won 3 seats. It was then that Manohar Parrikar became the chief minister. He resigned in November 2014 to join Narendra Modi’s Cabinet as the defence minister. He was succeeded by party colleague Laxmikant Parsekar who served as the CM until the 2017 Assembly elections. 2007: A Congress-led coalition government led by Digambar Kamat, who was earlier with the BJP, came to power with a combined seat tally of 21 seats. The Congress had allied with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Save Goa Front then to wrest power in the state. 2002: On 3 June 2002, the BJP formed its first government in Goa under the leadership of Manohar Parrikar which lasted for 2 years and 244 days. The government fell due to Digambar Kamat’s fallout Bharatiya Janata Party. 1999-1989: The ’90s was electorally a tumultuous time for the state. It saw defections, governments collapsing before tenure and even the imposition of President’s Rule. The first election for the 40-member state Assembly after Goa got statehood was held in 1989. After some discrepancies and issues, it was finally announced that the Congress had won the election with 20 seats. President’s Rule was imposed in 1990 for a duration from 14 December 1990 to 25 January 1991. It was also imposed from 10 February 1999 to 9 June 1999. The Luizinho Faleiro-led Congress government, which had come to power with a rare majority of 21 seats in the 40-member assembly in 1999, was toppled within five months. 1987-1963: Initially, there were 30 seats in the then Legislative Assembly of the UT of Goa, Daman and Diu. The first 10 years was all about Dayanand Bandodkar, the founder of Maharashrawadi Gomantak Party. After he passed away in August 1973 still in office, his daughter Shashikala Kakodkar became Goa’s only woman chief minister and continued in power till 1979. After her rule, the MGP government collapsed and President’s Rule was imposed. In January 1980, the then Congress (U) merged with the Congress (I) with Pratapsingh Rane switching from the MGP to the Congress to become its first CM. Later in 1987, after an agitation was launched Goa achieved statehood in 1987 and as they say, the rest is history. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.