We will sit in opposition in Goa: BJP

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Last updated on: June 05, 2007 20:24 IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it would sit in opposition in Goa and would not try to form the next government in the state where no party has got a clear majority in the Assembly polls.

"People have not given a clear mandate to any party, but still we have decided to sit in the opposition rather than engineer new political equations," Goa Bharatiya Janata Party president Shripad Naik told PTI.

The BJP won 14 seats in the 40-member House and despite a fractured verdict, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine, which bagged 19 seats, looks set to retain power in the coastal state with the help of smaller parties and Independents.

Emerging from a marathon meeting of newly elected BJP legislators and party leaders, Naik said, "We respect people's sentiments."

The meeting was also attended by BJP national general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Naik said with the current political situation, instability is likely to continue to be a part of Goa's politics.

"People have given us mandate to sit in opposition and we are respecting people's sentiments," Naik said.

The BJP said it was not disappointed with the results of Goa Assembly elections though the outcome was not up to the expectations.

"All I would say that we are not disappointed, though the result was not up to the expectations," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters in Delhi.

"The parliamentary board meeting (to be held later today) would study the results," he said.

Earlier in the day, BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad said that "the political fallout" of the Goa results will be discussed at the party's parliamentary board meeting.

Meanwhile, the party has rescheduled its national executive meeting. It will now be held on June 25 and 26 in New Delhi instead of June 15 and 16 in Jaipur.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the party general secretaries on Tuesday.

"The meeting took several decisions regarding toning up of the organisation," Prasad said.

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