Parrikar sworn in as Goa CM, floor test tomorrow
COURT BATTLE SC orders test within 48 hrs, refuses stay
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, taking 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.
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JNU research scholar J Muthukrishnan, who allegedly committed suicide on Monday evening, was a close friend of Rohith Vemula’s, another Dalit academic who killed himself in January last year, students at University of Hyderabad said.
Before JNU, Muthukrishnan studied at University of Hyderabad where Vemula committed suicide, an incident that sparked nationwide outrage over caste discrimination on campuses.
Delhi Police said on Tuesday they suspected Muthukrishnan was suffering from depression. The 29-year-old was found hanging at a friend’s house in Munirka Vihar, close to the JNU campus, on Monday evening.
While police began an investigation into the alleged suicide, Muthukrishnan’s father Jeevanantham alleged foul play and demanded a CBI probe.
On Tuesday, he filed a police complaint alleging that he was facing harassment by the JNU administration because of his caste and a thorough investigation must be conducted into the suspicious death of his son. Jeevanantham said his son was not under any medication for depression.
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