Pramod Sawant to be next Chief Minister of Goa

Panaji, Mar 18: Pramod Sawant is most likely to succeed Manohar Parrikar as the next chief minister of Goa. Sawant is currently the deputy speaker of the Goa legislative assembly.

Sawant was in the running along with three others to take over the next CM of Goa. Union Minister, Nitin Gadkari had landed in Goa early this morning to hold talks over the leadership, but the talks had remained inconclusive.

Source in the BJP tell OneIndia that Sawant is most likely to be the one to succeed Parrikar. An official announcement to this effect would be made soon, following which the swearing in ceremony will take place, the source also added.

The BJP with its allies has 20 MLAs in the house where the majority mark is 19. The strength of the Goa legislative assembly is 40. The BJP is backed by the Goa Forward Party, MGP and an independent.

The Congress on the other hand has 14 lawmakers. The Congress has asked Governor Mrudula Sinha to once again invite them to form the government alleging that the the BJP's number had fallen. The Congress said that they should be invited on the ground that they are the single largest party in Goa.