PM Modi leading nation from 'democracy to dictatorship': Congress

Ahead of the crucial floor test for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition in Goa, the Congress on 16 March, 2016 cornered Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the government formation by the saffron party in the coastal state is leading India from "democracy to dictatorship."

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking the country from democracy to dictatorship," said Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

Another Congress leader Vishwajit Rane, who earlier wrote a letter to the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi holding the party senior leader responsible for the party losing out on the opportunity to form the government in the state, said that he was going to vote for the grand-old party.

Recently sworn-in Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, will face a crucial floor test on 16 March, 2017, as a special assembly session has been convened for the same.

Parrikar, who stepped down as the defence minister, was sworn-in as the chief minister of the state for the fourth time on 14 March, 2017 evening, along with nine ministers.

Parrikar has claimed the support of 22 MLAs, two more than the halfway mark in the 40-member Goa assembly.

The BJP bagged 13 seats in the polls, while it claims the support of three MLAs each of the Goa Forward Party and Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party besides three independents. The Congress won 17 seats in a split mandate.

-ANI