Assembly Elections 2012
Prior to the elections to the state assembly in February 2012, the MGP withdrew its support to the Congress led coalition government citing the medium of instruction as one of the issues. It then entered into a pre-poll agreement with the BJP. Under this agreement, the party contested eight seats (Benaulim, Dabolim, Marcaim, Nuvem, Ponda, Priol, Quepem and Thivim) while its partner fielded its candidates in another 31 seats. The allies supported independent candidate Nirmala Sawant from Cumbharjua. The elections were important for the party as it had to win either 3 seats or over 95,000 votes to retain its electoral symbol.
The party won three seats, all in and around the city of Ponda in central Goa. The Dhavalikar brothers retained their seats - Ramakrishna (Sudin) from Marcaim and Pandurang (Deepak) from Priol. Meanwhile, the MGP candidate Lavoo Mamledar beat Congress heavyweight and incumbent Home Minister Ravi Naik. The BJP won another 21 seats. The BJP-MGP allaince came to power with the support of 26 MLAs (including 2 independent candidates) in the 40 member house. Ramakrishna is the minister for PWD, Transport and River Navigation in the new cabinet. Pandurang holds the portfolios of Co-operation, Factories & Boilers.
Read more about this topic: Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party
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