Despite two ministers being sacked, BJP-MGP alliance still on: Parrikar

Despite the unceremonious dropping of two MGP ministers from the BJP-led coalition cabinet in Goa, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said the alliance between the two parties was still on and that the BJP was still open to any offer by the MGP made through a proper channel.

Parrikar's comments come a day after two ministers from the regional Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Sudin Dhavalikar and Deepak Dhavalikar, were dropped from the cabinet by Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar late on Monday, after the duo criticised his leadership on numerous occasions.

"Some have interpreted (the developments) as a dead-end to the alliance. But an alliance is an agreement between two political parties. So as far as we are concerned, we have not terminated that political partys' agreement from our side," Parrikar, a former Chief Minister of the state, told a press conference on Tuesday.

"If we receive any proposal from them (not through media) there is still some time. If they are interested they can still put up a proposal," Parrikar added.

The Defence Minister also said that if the MGP ministers did not trust the Chief Minister's leadership, they should have resigned from their positions.

Prolonged political wrangling between the MGP and the Bharatiya Janata Party, had led to the sacking of the two ministers from the BJP-led coalition cabinet late on Monday.

While the BJP has a simple majority of 21 seats in the state assembly, the MGP has three MLAs, two of whom are Cabinet ministers. MGP was also a member of the ruling Congress-led alliance from 2007 to 2012.

The MGP had criticised the leadership of Parsekar, claiming the state had slipped backwards by 10 years with him at the helm.

Parrikar, however, said that an alliance partner with three seats could not dictate terms of internal leadership to the BJP which has 21 seats.

--IANS

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