NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Goa smoothly won a crucial Supreme Court-mandated floor test today with 22 votes in favour of it in the 40-member Assembly. That gave the BJP-plus combine a majority - it needed 21 - and allowed the Manohar Parrikar-led government to continue.Parrikar earlier too claimed support of 22 legislators, two more than the halfway mark in the 40-member Assembly. A special Assembly session was convened today to hold the floor test.While the BJP won the support of 22 legislators, Congress legislator Vishwajit Rane abstained and walked out.The BJP bagged 13 seats in the state polls held last month. That gave the BJP 22 to the Congress party's 17 seats.The Congress filed a plea on Monday to stay the swearing-in ceremony - scheduled for Tuesday - and order a floor test. Everyone voluntarily came and voted, none of them were kept in a hotel room or secluded commonplace as was the case of opposition," Parrikar told the media after the floor test.

Source: Times of India March 16, 2017 06:58 UTC