New Delhi, October 16:  In a major setback to the Congress party in Goa, two of its lawmakers- Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte resigned from their post as Members of State Assembly and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday.  Both the leaders joined BJP in the presence of UnioN Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. Earlier in the day, Subhash Shirodkar after meeting BJP President Amit Shah in the national capital said, both of them (He and Sopte) are joining BJP today and expect 2-3 more MLAs to join them in the coming days.

Goa Assembly speaker Pramod Sawant on Tuesday informed that he received the resignations of the two Congress MLAs and they confirmed they're doing this willingly. "I received resignation from 2 Congress MLAs Dayanand Sopte & Subhash Shirodkar. They confirmed they're doing this willingly, without any pressure. I accepted the resignations", Sawant said.

The Goa Assembly speaker further added that the once the process is completed, the copies will be sent to all members of House, Govorner and the Election Commision. With the resignation of the two Congress legislators, the strength of the state assembly of Goa is 38. Goa Congress MLAs Issue Notice For Removal of Assembly Speaker Pramod Sawant. 

The ruling BJP with a party strength of 14 has the support of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the Goa Forward Party. With the latest twist in the state politics, Congress has lost the single-largest party tag in the Goa Legislative Assembly.

At present, the party strength of BJP is 14 while that of Congress is also 14. The party strength of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) is 3 while that of Goa Forward is 3, NCP is 1 and independent is 3. Sawant said that the EC has been informed and it is up to them as to when there should be a by-poll etc.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 16, 2018 06:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).