new Delhi: The newly elected MLAs are going to take oath today amid the ongoing suspense over who will be the next Chief Minister of Goa. Pro tem speaker Ganesh Gaonkar Aad will administer the oath of office and secrecy to all the 39 newly elected MLAs of the state.
Earlier, Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai administered oath to BJP MLA Ganesh Gaonkar as the Pro-tem Speaker of the state assembly on Monday. But the market of speculation is hot on who will be the next Chief Minister of the state.
Significantly, the term of the Goa Legislative Assembly is ending on March 16, but the BJP has not yet announced the name of the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, the internal discord between the BJP leaders in the state regarding the post of CM has come to the fore.
According to sources, BJP’s two central observers, party general secretary BL Santosh and Union minister Piyush Goyal, will visit Goa today. Both the leaders will decide on the formation of the new government and who should be made the chief minister of the state.
BJP has emerged as the single largest party in the state by winning 20 seats in the Goa Assembly elections. Which is one less than the majority. However, the party has received letters of unconditional support from three independent MLAs and two MLAs of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, which could potentially take the strength of the Treasury benches to 25 in the 40-member state assembly. The Congress could win only 11 seats, with another seat being won by its alliance partner, the Goa Forward Party.
Meanwhile, the internal discord between the BJP leaders in the state regarding the post of CM has come to the fore. In fact, on Saturday, BJP MLA Vishwajit Rane suddenly reached to meet Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai. After this meeting, Pramod Sawant held a meeting with the party MLAs. It is being told that 17 out of 20 MLAs attended this meeting. Earlier, he has once again declared himself a candidate for the post of CM. However, in the elections, Sawant was able to save his seat by a margin of 666 votes.
first published:March 15, 2022, 6:57 am