Pratapsingh Rane unanimously elected Speaker of Goa Assembly

Panaji, June 15 (UNI) Five-time former Goa chief minister and veteran Congress leader Pratapsingh Raoji Rane was today unanimously elected Speaker of the 5th state Legislative Assembly at its one-day maiden session here.

Senior BJP leader Laxmikant Parsekar and an independent candidate supported by the BJP, Mr Anil Salgaoncar earlier withdrew from the contest.

Mr Rane was earlier Speaker of the House during 1999-2002 when Francisco Sardinha was the Chief Minister.

Earlier, all the members of the 40-member House were sworn in by the pro-tem speaker Alexeio Sequeira.

They included Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, ministers Ravi S Naik, Jose Philip D'Souza Ramakrishna Dhavlikar followed by the Leader of the Opposition Manohar Parrikar.

Thanking the members for unanimously electing him as the Speaker, Rane vowed to uphold the dignity of the House as he was prepared to shoulder the huge responsibility as the Speaker.

He also urged the members to uphold the dignity, decorum and decency of the House during the sessions to keep democracy vibrant in Goa, through enriched debates so that the state would be known more as one of the model states with its encouraging performance indicators.

The Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition Mr Parrikar said the experience of Rane would benefit the House besides guiding the members suitably. They said he would run the House in a fair manner.

All the 40 members had a group photograph later. The members included chief of Save Goa Front Churchil Alemao, UGDP leader Atanasio(Babush) Monserrate, who flew in here from Dubai, besides son of Chief Minister Viswajit Rane (Independent)and Industrialist Anil Salgaocar(Independent).

After the House was adjourned sine die, the Chief Minister told mediapersons that he would expand the cabinet by Tuesday next week.

Mr Parrikar said the opposition would always discharge its duty and point out the lapses of the Government if any in due course.

UNI