Congress with 16 seatsone more than in the previous polls-- and its pre-election ally NCP having bagged three have emerged as the single largest alliance but fell two short of the majority mark in the 40-member assembly.

The state's main opposition BJP got 14 seatsthree less than in the last elections--while two independents and some regional parties to share the remaining seven seats.

Congress would stake claim to form government once party chief Sonia Gandhi announces who will be the new Chief Minister of Goa. The decision to name the Chief Minister was left to Gandhi by newly-elected lawmakers of the party in the state.

Congress is engaged in efforts to enlist the support of some independent legislators as well those of smaller parties in order to reach the majority mark. One independent lawmaker, who is the son of present Goa Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane of Congress, has already declared his support for a Congress-led government.

The electoral victory in Goa has come as a shot in the arm of Congress which is trying to get over the disappointment of its dismal show in the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, the state the party had once ruled, recently and its election defeats in two other northern Indian states of Punjab and Uttarakhand earlier.

The next few months will see Congress and BJP bracing for the electoral battle in Gujarat assembly polls in November this year and Himachal Pradesh early next year, after which elections to legislatures in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Delhi are due in late 2008. All these polls are likely to set the mood for the 2009 parliamentary elections.

BJP sources said the party has begun an analysis of the reasons for its defeat in Goa as the party failed to cash in on anti-incumbency factor and factionalism in Congress there.

After the saffron party's drubbing in Uttar Pradesh polls, BJP was looking forward to elections in Goa for a reversal in its fortunes.