Parrikar takes oath as Goa CM, will take floor test tomorrow

SC RAPS CONGRESS Top court says Congress should have put proof of support in front of governor in time; rejects stay plea

PANAJI, NEW DELHI: Manohar Parrikar, who quit as defence minister, took oath on Tuesday as the chief minister of Goa to head a coalition government, three days after the BJP ended up second behind the Congress in a fractured mandate.

Parrikar (61) took oath along with nine MLAs including two members of the BJP, three of the Goa Forward Party, two of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and as many Independents. His swearing-in was cleared by the Supreme Court earlier on Tuesday after it was approached by the Congress.

The top court allowed the BJP to form government, but said it must prove its majority in a floor test within 48 hours.

A bench of chief justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, justices Ranjan Gogoi and RK Agrawal criticized the Congress for not making its case in front of the Goa governor. The Congress Legislature Party leader in the Goa assembly Chandrakant Kavlekar sought Governor Mridula Sinha’s decision to appoint Parrikar as the chief minister be put on hold and his swearing-in be scheduled for Tuesday evening.

Rejecting the plea for a composite floor test between Parrikar and Kavlekar, the bench said: “You (petitioner Kavlekar) don’t put anything on record. You don’t tell anything to the Governor. You don’t file any affidavit in a matter as serious as this. There is nothing on record.”

“You are putting us in the position of Governor. You are telling us everything that you should have told the Governor,” observed the bench as the petitioner’s counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi took the court through the constitutional provisions and conventions. The bench took exception to Kavlekar not making Parrikar party to his plea.

“You know him. He was the defence minister. You don’t even implead him in the matter,” the apex court said while pointing out that “you do everything wrong. You don’t do anything and point finger at the world”.

As the petitioner’s counsel raised some point while chief justice Khehar was passing the order, the CJI said: “You are so fussy... don’t go into commas and full stops.”

As senior counsel Harish Salve urged the court that instead of specifically saying that the floor test should be held on a particular day, it should say as soon as possible.

The chief justice said: “We don’t understand asap (as soon as possible). Even though we do, it has to be forthwith.”

Senior counsel Harish Salve objected when Singhvi urged the court to keep the swearing-in in abeyance till the floor test took place.

Parrikar returns to Goa as the chief minister for fourth time, though he could not complete full terms in his earlier stints.

He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Mridula Sinha at the Raj Bhawan here.

BJP president Amit Shah and Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Venkaiah Naidu were present at the swearing-in ceremony.

Justifying his return to the state, Parrikar said, “Regional parties have taken the lead to form this government and have requested me to lead them by resigning as defence minister.”

The BJP has enlisted support of three MLAs each of the MGP and GFP and two Independents to attain the halfway mark of 21 in the 40-member Assembly.

Almost all of them took the oath of a cabinet member, leaving BJP with just two.