Supreme Court orders floor test in Goa on March 16, refuses to stay Manohar Parrikar’s oath taking ceremony

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has turned down a plea of Congress to put a stay on the oath taking ceremony of Manohar Parrikar which is set to take place later today. The apex court, however, directed the Goa Governor to conduct a floor test in the state assembly on March 16 for the BJP to prove its majority.

The floor test will be conducted at 11 am on Thursday.
.
A three-judge bench lead by Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, also rejected an assurance by the Modi government to have the floor test as soon as possible.


"We won't accept as soon as possible. It has to be forthwith," the apex court said.

The Congress had challenged the state Governor's decision to invite the Manohar Parrikar-led BJP legislature party to form a government in the state.

Also Read: How to understand Modi’s magical political appeal

The CJI directed all constitutional authorities including the Election Commission to complete the formalities by tomorrow to have the floor test on March 16.

The senior most member of the 40 member House will be the pro tem speaker. The House will be constituted before that. The BJP led coalition is claiming it has the support of 21 MLAs. The Congress disputes it.

Congress got 17 seats in the recently concluded elections in the state while BJP managed to win 13 seats. However, the saffron party claims to have support from the elected MLAs of MGP, the GFP and independents, takings its tally to 21.

Congress earlier today staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha, opposing BJP's move to form government in Goa and Manipur where the saffron party got lesser number of seats but managed to win over independents and other parties to get to the majority mark.