Opposition MLAs in touch with Goa BJP: Tendulkar

Two Opposition MLAs are in touch with the BJP and are likely to vote in favour of the BJP-led coalition government in Goa, once the Assembly session is called, said state BJP president Vinay Tendulkar on Monday.

Tendulkar's comment came on the heels of similar statements by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Karnataka BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa, who in the course of the Lok Sabha election campaign, have said that 100 MLAs of the Trinamool Congress party and 20 MLAs from the Congress in Karnataka respectively, were likely to join the BJP after results of the general election are announced on May 23.

"We will have two other MLAs who are supporting us. Two MLAs from opposition will vote for us," Tendulkar said. The Congress is only major opposition party in the state assembly with 14 MLAs.

Tendulkar also said that the legisaltor tally of the BJP in a House of 36 is currently 14. It would increase to 18, after the results of the four assembly bypolls, which had been simutaenuously scheduled along with the general election, are announced on May 23.

"It is not possible to overthrow this government, because after poll results are declared, we will have 18 MLAs, plus six MLAs who are already our allies. We will have 24 MLAs," Tendulkar said, even as the Opposition has repeatedly warned of a regime change after May 23, claiming that the BJP is likely to fare poorly in the bypolls to Mandrem, Shiroda, Mapusa and Panaji.

Apart from the electoral contest for the two Lok Sabha seats, the results of the four by-election seats are likely to determine the fate of the Pramod Sawant-led coalition government, which is currently in power thanks to a slender majority.

--IANS

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