Goa casino operators anxiously watch post-election party moves

Casinos in the Indian state of Goa will have to wait a little longer to learn if the government will maintain their operating licenses.

On Saturday, the government revealed the results of February’s election results, which showed the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) falling from 21 seats to just 13 in the 40-member Assembly. Meanwhile, the opposition Congress party increased its presence to 17 seats, eight more than it won in the 2012 campaign.

With neither party winning an outright majority, a frantic race began to see whether BJP or Congress would be able to muster the support of a sufficient number of the smaller parties’ elected members to achieve the necessary 21-seat majority to form the next government.

The remaining 10 Assembly seats are divided as follows: the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party (MGP) won three seats apiece, while three independent candidates won single seats and the final seat is held by the Nationalist Congress Party.