Panaji, May 31 (IANS): The BJP in Goa on Wednesday challenged the opposition Congress to prove its legislative strength to recapture power in the coastal state.

The BJP also ridiculed the party's decision to approach President Ram Nath Kovind to demand a full-fledged Chief Minister for Goa, due to the prolonged absence of Manohar Parrikar, who is undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer in a US hospital.

"It is wrong for the Congress to keep demanding from the Governor that they should be given a chance to form a government in Goa. The BJP challenges them to first prove their legislative strength in the house or outside. They simply do not have the numbers," state Bharatiya Janata Party Spokesperson Dattaprasad Naik told a press conference here.

As for the Congress plan to meet the President, Naik said: "It is ridiculous that the opposition party is going to the President to demand this. The government is working perfectly with the arrangement put in place by our Chief Minister."

Before leaving for the US, Parrikar appointed a Cabinet Advisory Committee comprising three Ministers, which the Congress claimed is unconstitutional and that the matter would be raised before Kovind.