In New Delhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar warned his MLAs of extreme action and sent a letter to the Speaker informing him that their action came under the anti-defection law. “I am sending my senior colleagues to the state to take stock of the situation. They will also be carrying a letter to the Speaker informing him that the action by the MLAs amounts to inviting anti-defection provisions,” Pawar told reporters. “According to the new law, these MLAs can be stopped from contesting polls for the next five years,” Pawar reminded.

Meanwhile, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the BJP observer for Goa, said his party was not at all interested in forming the Government as it wanted the “Congress to stand fully exposed for its misdeeds”. “The Kamat Government has been in minority ever since its inception seven months ago. It has been ruling on the basis of an arrangement among the Governor, Speaker and the CM,” Rudy said.