Panaji : Hectic parleys are underway for government formation in Goa as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in talks with its alliance partners MGF and GFP to arrive at a consensus over who will be the next Chief Minister of the state. State BJP leaders have confirmed that a decision on the name of the CM will be taken by 2 pm and swearing in will take place after 3 pm on Monday.
Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari had rushed to Goa and held a meeting with GFP and MGP on Sunday which continued through the night. On Monday again, BJP MLA Vishwajit Rane, MGP leader Sudin Dhavalikar, both of whom are aspirants for the CM post met Gadkari. However, leaders of GFP were not called for the meeting.
The Goa Assembly has a strength of 40 members but currently, there are 36 MLAs following the death of two BJP legislators, Manohar Parrikar and Francis D’Souza, and the resignation of two Congress lawmakers. The majority mark in Goa Assembly at present is 19. Congress is the single largest party in the state with 14 MLAs. The BJP has 12 legislators in the 40-member Goa assembly. The GFP, MGP and Independents have three MLAs each while the NCP has one legislator.
BJP MLA Glenn Ticlo told news agency ANI that one of the 12 BJP MLAs should lead Goa. “Definitely, one among the 12 of us BJP MLAs should lead the state, it is but obvious,” Ticlo said.
The Congress delegation which met Governor Mridula Sinha has said that it should be given the chance to form government as it is the single largest party in the Assembly. “We met the Governor and staked claim to form government as we are the single largest party in the state. We have 14 MLAs and we should be given the chance to form the government. We have told that we will prove majority,” Congress leader Chandrakant Kavlekar said.
State BJP leaders have confirmed that Pramod Sawant will be the next Goa CM. An official announcement regarding the same is expected soon. Goa BJP president Vinay Tendulkar said, “Everything will be clear by 2 pm. The swearing-in ceremony of Goa CM will happen today around 3 pm.”
The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) has also said that its executive committee will take a call on whether to continue support to the state government. MGP leader Sudin Dhavalikar had on Monday met Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari at a hotel near Panaji to discuss the political situation in the state. “The MGP would hold its executive committee meeting later in the day to decide whether to continue its support to the BJP-led government or not,” Dhavalikar had said after the meeting. He also said that there was no discussion with Gadkari on the chief ministerial candidate.
Meanwhile, all 14 Congress MLAs rushed to meet Governor Mridula Sinha to stake claim to form the government on Monday. This is the second time in 24 hours that they have staked claim to form government. In a letter to the Governor on Sunday night, the Congress had said: “We deeply mourn the sad demise of Shri Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister of Goa. This unfortunate development calls for the immediate action on your part for the smooth transition and transfer of power. The coalition partners of the Parrikar-led government had allied with BJP on condition that the government is headed by Mr Manohar Parrikar, the then Defence Minister of India. The BJP, therefore, has no allies as of now. We therefore hereby once again stake claim to form the government.”
BJP sources also claim that Speaker Pramod Sawant and BJP MLA Vishwajit Rane are front-runners for the CM’s post. Sawant is a two-time MLA and was elected as the Speaker on March 22, 2017, after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government in the state following the Assembly election in alliance with Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Independents.
As per a PTI report quoting state BJP chief, a decision on who will be the next Chief Minister of Goa will be taken by 2 pm and the swearing in will take place after 3 pm today.
Bureau Report
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