Ready to face mid-term assembly polls if Goa govt is

At a time the Congress has raised questions over stability of the Goa government, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, one of the constituents of the BJP-led dispensation, Wednesday said the party was ready to face mid-term polls in case the government is "dissolved".

MGP leader and PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar also said politics is an unpredictable field.

"The MGP is ready to face mid-term assembly elections in case of dissolution of the government. We will not be affected whether the government is dissolved or not. But, the people got us elected for the tenure of five years (in 2017) and we want to complete our term," the minister told reporters here.

With three MLAs, the MGP is one of the constituents of the BJP-led government. The others being the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Independent MLAs.

The opposition Congress, which has 16 MLAs in the House of 40, had demanded a floor test claiming that all is not well among the allies of the BJP in view of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's absence from office due to ill health.

The CM is currently undergoing treatment at AIIMS in Delhi for a pancreatic ailment.

"...Anything can happen in politics. Even a group of ten legislators can switch over to another party. We had seen it in a state where an entire group of Congress MLAs, including chief minister, had shifted to the BJP overnight," Dhavlikar said.

He said the government would continue in office till people want. "Elections would be imminent if the people doesn't want the government to continue," he said.

Dhavalikar, however, ruled out replacement of the chief minister.

He said the CM would allot additional portfolios to ministers after October 9.

"There is nothing wrong in the current political situation of Goa. The CM is not here because he is unwell. There won't be any change in leadership in Goa. We want Manohar Parrikar to be our leader and till the time he can work for the people of Goa, he will be continue to be our leader," Dhavalikar added.