For the Congress, it appears to be game over in Goa, a State that was their stronghold till not so long ago

In the 2012 Assembly poll in the tiny State of Goa, which has significant minority population, the Manohar Parrikar-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a simple majority in the 40-member House on its own for the first time. The traditional ruling party the Congress, buffeted by accusations of corruption and nepotism, was turfed out by voters rather unceremoniously but it retained a substantial vote-share. The man who has been in many ways the face of Goa for the last decade, Parrikar, took over as chief minister but midway through his term he was summoned to Delhi after the BJP swept to power at the centre in 2014 to take over as the Defence Minister. In the last Assembly election in 2017, a Parrikar-less BJP crashed to a resounding defeat. The Congress, though it did not manage to cross the majority-mark, emerged as the single largest party with 17 MLAs. What followed is well known; Congress failed to stake claim in time, its MLA Vishwajit Rane quit reducing its strength to 16, Parrikar came back as Chief Minister at the head of a fragile coalition supported by two regional parties, his subsequent and ongoing medical issues, the increasing instability of the BJP Government and the Congress scenting a chance.

In one fell swoop on Tuesday, however, the Congress had the door firmly shut in its face and the BJP showed it had mastered the art of realpolitik. With two more Congress MLAs joining the BJP and resigning as legislators, the Congress strength in the House is now 14 and expected to dwindle further. The BJP has not only ensured that they can take their time to stake stock of Parrikar’s medical situation and a practical call on his replacement but also sent out a signal to its allies, the leaders of the Goa Forward Party and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, that they should keep their ambitions of taking over from Parrikar in check. Or should that be checkmate?