New BJP govt in Goa wins floor test, CM Sawant proves majority

Panaji, Mar 20: The BJP government in Goa led by newly appointed Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has won the floor test on Wednesday by winning 20 votes while the Congress polled only 15.

Sawant, who was sworn in on Monday night following the demise of Manohar Parrikar, said he was confident of a victory, with the support of 21 MLAs in the House - 12 from the BJP, three each of allies Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and three Independents.

The strength of the 40-member house has been reduced to 36 due to the death of Manohar Parrikar, BJP legislator Francis D'Souza and resignations of two Congress lawmakers Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte.

The Congress had attempted to meet Governor Sinha on Friday to stake a claim over the government hours after news of Parrikar's deteriorating health emerged. Following this, they submitted two letters to Sinha over the same claim but didn't receive a response.

Here are the Highlights:

Sawant won the 2012 and 2017 Assembly elections from North Goa's Sanquelim constituency, which used to be a Congress stronghold.

After Parrikar's demise on Sunday both the state Congress and BJP, who had already held several rounds of meetings, acted quickly. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari flew in on Sunday night to meet with the MLAs of the BJP and their allies for a round of negotiations and parleys which would last till Monday night.

It was around 2 am that Pramod Sawant was sworn in as the CM following hectic parleys and negotiations. Also initiated were two deputy chief ministers, Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai and Maharashtra Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar, and nine other ministers.