Watch: Parrikar can't stop ribbing Digvijaya over Congress' Goa debacle, thanks him in Rajya Sabha

Parrikar came to the Rajya Sabha during the Zero Hour and thanked the chairman, Deputy Chairman, and other members. "I express my thanks to the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and members of this house for their support during my tenure as Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister), and invite them to Goa whenever they want to come," Parrikar said.

"My special thanks to honourable member Digvijaya Singh, who happened to be in Goa but did nothing so that I could form the government," he said. Digvijaya Singh has given notice for a substantive motion to discuss in the house the conduct of Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, which is now pending for two weeks. Outside the house, Parrikar said there was no question of immorality in the way the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government in Goa with the help of smaller parties and Independents.

"Other parties supported us as they didn't trust the Congress...It's a coalition government and there is no question of morality of immorality in it," Parrikar said.Digvijaya, who was in-charge of the Congress affairs in Goa, had earlier said the constitutional norms were not followed by Governor Mridula Sinha, adding that the Congress despite being the single largest party was not invited to form the government in the state.

"The procedure is that the single largest party is always called. So, the Governor should have adopted this process. The Governor has to act under the Constitution as per the established conventions," Singh told the media.

Earlier on March 16, former defence minister Parrikar established victory in the Goa Assembly as 22 MLAs stood in his support. 16 MLAs opposed Parrikar's candidature as the Chief Minister, while one MLA was absent.

The Supreme Court had ordered a floor test as the Congress challenged his appointment, citing that the Goa Governor did not follow the procedure as dictated by the Constitution. Despite the BJP ending up second behind the Congress in a split mandate, Parrikar had claimed the support of 22 legislators, two more than the half-way mark in the 40-member Assembly.

The Congress won 17 seats but was not able to prove majority.

Singh and other Congress leaders had accused the BJP of indulging in unfair means to cobble up the numbers to retain power in the state after it failed to get a simple majority. He also alleged that Governor Mridula Sinha did not invite the Congress to form the ministry despite it emerging as the single largest party. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi again charged the BJP with "stealing" the mandate of people in Goa and Manipur and forming governments in these states by using money power.

"The BJP used money power in Manipur and Goa. They stole the mandate of the people...," Gandhi said while replying to a question by reporters on BJP forming government in Manipur as well as in Goa. The Congress leader was speaking on the sidelines of the swearing-in of Capt Amarinder Singh as Punjab Chief Minister at a function in Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh. Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu trashed the Congress' allegations that the BJP used money power to form governments in Goa and Manipur, terming them as "absurd".

Naidu hit back at the Congress for questioning the BJP over forming the governments despite not emerging as the single largest party there. He stressed that the saffron party came to power "as per precedents" set in the past.

"Now after this massive victory (of the BJP) in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and even in Manipur, the Congress is yet to learn lessons and is making absurd allegations. It could not find support to stake claim in Goa, Manipur," Naidu told reporters in Delhi. The Information and Broadcasting Minister stated the BJP formed governments in the two states after the Congress failed to stake such claim.

"And when the BJP has mobilised the support, other parties have started questioning... this is not acceptable in a democracy, it will be a mockery of democracy," he retorted.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari said the Congress should not 'preach' BJP on the government formation exercise.

"There have been 50 incidents like this (government formation). Madhu Koda was one such case in Jharkhand. Those who have carried out such experiments should not sermonise us, it is wrong," Gadkari told reporters in Mumbai responding to the Congress' claims of wrongdoing on BJP's part to come to power in the coastal state.

Rubbishing allegations of horse-trading, Gadkari conceded that ministerial berths were offered to the MLAs during negotiations to garner support. "No one is a sadhu-sanyasi in politics. This (Parrikar being invited to form government, despite BJP having less seats than Congress) is not against democracy. There have been many precedents of smaller parties coming together to form government and not the largest party," the Shipping Minister said.