PANAJI: Looking back over the past instances when Goa's electorate delivered a fractured mandate , it appears that the state is once again poised at the very same threshold post the February 4 polls.With a few new factors such as a multiparty contest and new entrants in the fray, especially the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), it remains to be seen how the suspenseful and interesting contest will pan out on March 11.When we speculate about a hung assembly , there are three scenarios to be considered — that of 1994, 2002 and 2007.During the 2012 assembly elections , the alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) played a major role in deciding which party becomes the single largest in the 40-member house Every time the BJP has forged an understanding with the MGP, it has struck gold, nosing out the Congress from the race.For the 2017 polls, too, BJP had looked eagerly for an alliance with the MGP to consolidate the vote in its favour, as both had done well in 2012, grabbing 24 seats jointly.In 2012, the resentment against Congress among voters may have helped them, but both political outfits cornered 41.40% of the vote.The BJP amassed 34.68% of the vote share and 21 seats, a simple majority, while the MGP garnered 6.72% and three seats. In comparison, in 2007, both parties did not have an understanding for the polls, which were held in June that year.The BJP amassed 30.32% of the total vote and 14 seats, while MGP, which contested as many as 26 seats, amassed only 6.72% of the vote share and just two seats.In contrast, the Congress party, which had amassed a higher share of 34.68% of the vote in the 32-seat contest, won 16 seats in 2007, but slid to just nine seats and 30.78% of the total vote share for the 2012 polls.In 2007, the Congress formed the government in coalition with other political entities, but it was vulnerable to manipulations.Around mid term, on February 27, 2002, then chief minister Manohar Parrikar dissolved the assembly amid reports that a disparate band of party MLAs were conspiring to topple him. He had hoped that elections would secure his party a clear mandate, but his design did not materialize. BJP managed to muster only 17 seats and the Congress 16. He had to form the government with other political entities, which led to a collapse of his government in February 2005, exposing the fragility of governments cobbled with disparate entities.In 1994, the Congress party under Dr Wilfred de Souza's leadership bagged 18 seats, three short of a simple majority, while MGP mauled their way to 12, upsetting Congress plans.

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