2 Allies Get Deputy Posts
Panaji
Former Speaker of the Goa legislative assembly and BJP MLA Pramod Sawant will be sworn in as the 11th Chief Minister of Goa, Sawant himself confirmed on Tuesday.
Talks with the alliance partners continued till late in the night as they sought to extract their part of the share.
Sawant said he will get two deputies – one from each alliance partner – as tough negotiations were carried throughout Monday alongside national mourning for Parrikar.
Goa Forward Party’s Vijai Sardesai and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party’s (MGP) Sudin Dhavalikar are likely to be the Deputy CMs, sources said.
The 45-year-old Speaker, who was groomed by Parrikar, was elected leader of the BJP legislature party at a meeting held in the state capital minutes after Parrikar was given a state funeral with full military honours.
BJP chief Amit Shah and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari met the legislators before the formal resolution was passed.
“Nitin Gadkari would, after some speaking to leaders of all parties, would clear the path for formation of a new government and after that, they will go together to meet the Governor to stake claim,” Amit Shah told reporters.
“The Goa government will be formed in a short while from how,” Shah said in the evening.
But negotiations with the alliance partners continued till late in the night as they sought to extract their pound of flesh.
Gadkari said in the evening that a consensus eluded the BJP and its allies on the next Goa chief minister following the death of Parrikar.