Goa polls: Decision to ally with MGP to be taken a month before poll, says BJP

PANAJI: The decision on whether to ally with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party ( MGP) would be taken a month before the Goa legislative assembly polls, scheduled for 2017, the BJP said here today.

"We have a coalition with the MGP at present but whether it will continue or be discontinued during the 2017 polls would be decided a month before the election," BJP's Goa unit president Vinay Tendulkar told reporters here.

Stating that it is upto the BJP to decide about the coalition, Tendulkar said, "We are the elder brother. So, the MGP's terms and conditions should suit our party."

The BJP-MGP alliance successfully fought the 2012 Goa legislative assembly polls winning 23 out of total 40 seats in the state.

However, in the recent past, the MGP had stated that it would contest the forthcoming Goa polls alone if the BJP did not wish to ally with it.

The MGP had also stated that it has the strength to win maximum number of seats.