BJP to stake claim to form govt in Goa today

Panaji, Mar 14: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) will stake the claim to form a government in Goa today. MLA-elect Ganesh Gaonkar will be administered an oath by Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai today. He has been appointed as the pro-term speaker.

The Governor has called for the convening of a new Assembly on March 15 in Goa for the purpose of administering the oath or affirmation to the newly-elected members, Goa Raj Bhawan said in a notice on Sunday.

"As the tenure of the current Assembly was up to March 15, 2022, and in view of the notification of the Election Commission of India issued on March 10, 2022, constituting the newly elected Members of the Legislative Assembly of Goa, Governor dissolved the Assembly on March 12, 2022, with immediate effect," the Raj Bhavan said in a statement.

The Governor has appointed Ganesh Gaonkar to be the person before whom members of the Goa Legislative Assembly shall make and subscribe the oath or affirmation. Gaonkar will be administered the Oath of MLA by Governor on March 14, 2022, at 11:30 am at Raj Bhavan.

The BJP emerged as the single largest party in Goa winning 20 seats in the 40-member state assembly and decimated Congress to 11 seats. Independent candidates bagged three seats while two seats each went to the tally of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak (MGP). Revolutionary Goans Party and Goa Forward Party (GFP) got one seat each.