Parrikar sworn in as Goa CM, floor test tomorrow
LEGAL BATTLE Supreme Court orders test within 48 hours, refuses stay
PANAJI/NEWDELHI: Manohar Parrikar took over as the Goa chief minister on Tuesday afternoon, a few hours after the top court refused a Congress plea to stay the swearing-in but asked him to prove majority by Thursday.
The 61-year-old BJP leader, who quit as the defence minister a day earlier to return to his home state, will head a coalition government after the party finished second in the assembly election with 13 seats in a 40-member House.
The Congress that got 17 seats in a hung assembly accused the BJP of using money power, saying the party’s move to stake claim to power was against the law.
“If they (Congress) had the majority, they should have gone to the governor instead of approaching the court… No MLA wanted to support the Congress,” said Parrikar after being sworn in as the chief minister for the fourth time.
Of the nine ministers who were sworn in with Parrikar, only two — Francis D’Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar — are from the BJP.
The remaining seven are Sudin Dhavalikar and Manohar Azgaonkar of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), Vijai Sardesai, Vinod Palienkar and Jayesh Salgaonkar of the Goa Forward Party and Independent MLAs Govind Gawde and Rohan Khaunte.
Another independent MLA, Prasad Gaonkar, submitted a letter of support, Parrikar said, tak- ing the number of coalition MLAs to 22, one above the majority mark.
“Congratulations to @manoharparrikar and his team on being sworn in. My best wishes in taking Goa to new heights of progress,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
Senior BJP leaders including party chief Amit Shah, union ministers M Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari and JP Nadda were in Panaji for the ceremony.
In Delhi, the BJP and the Congress clashed over Goa as well as Manipur, which, too, voted a hung House with the Congress finishing first but again beaten by the BJP in staking claim to power.
The Congress accused the BJP of stealing the mandate of people and walked out of the Lok Sabha with allies in protest.
Party vice-president Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of undermining democracy and alleged the Goa governor acted in a partisan manner.
(With agency inputs)