New Delhi: Pramod Sawant, the Goa Speaker who was considered to be the frontrunner for the chief minister’s chair alongside BJP leader Vishwajit Rane, after the death of Manohar Parrikar on Sunday, has reportedly been picked by the party and its allies to take on the mantle of CM.
According to NDTV, Sudin Dhavalikar and Vijai Sardesai will be the deputy chief ministers.
The BJP and its allies reportedly reached a consensus late Monday evening on the name of the new Goa chief minister.
In fact, Sawant’s Wikipedia page has already been edited calling him the new chief minister after Manohar Parrikar.
Pramod Sawant’s Wikipedia page.
Four-time Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar was laid to rest at Miramar Beach on Monday next to the memorial of the state’s first CM Dayanand Bandodkar.
On Monday, Congress MLAs had also met the Governor of Goa, Mridula Sinha on Monday and staked their claim to form a government in the coastal state.
The opposition party had earlier written to Sinha, staking a claim to form the government on Friday and then again on Sunday.
The Congress is currently the single largest party in the state with 14 MLAs, while the BJP has 12 in the 40-member assembly.
The strength of the House has now been reduced to 36 due to the demise of BJP MLA Francis D’Souza earlier this year and the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday along with the resignations of two Congress MLAs Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte last year.
The Goa Forward Party (GFP) and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) have three MLAs each, while the NCP has one. There are three independents as well.
(With inputs from PTI)