Race for new Goa CM: BJP has decided the leader, issue only of allies, says Gadkari

Amid the political stalemate in Goa after the death of chief minister Manohar Parrikar, Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari said Monday that the party has decided who should be the next chief minister of Goa and the issue only rests with the alliance partners.

Amid the political stalemate in Goa after the death of chief minister Manohar Parrikar, Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari said Monday that the party has decided who should be the next chief minister of Goa and the issue only rests with the alliance partners.

“I am in Goa till 6 pm and it would be better if we zero down to the consensus before that. BJP Goa has decided who should be their leader; the issue is only with alliance partners,” Gadkari said.

Goa Assembly Speaker Pramod Sawant and Health Minister Vishwajit Rane have emerged as frontrunners for Goa CM’s post. While Sawant is known to be from the cadre and is seen as someone who had “ear of the chief minister”, reports suggest that Rane enjoys the support of BJP’s ally Goa Forward Party and independent MLAs.

After the overnight meeting to find the fresh face in Goa reached a deadlock, Union minister Nitin Gadkari began round two of talks with BJP leaders and alliance partner Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) to discuss Parrikar’s successor in Goa. After the meeting, Goa BJP president Vinay Tendulkar said, “The decision on a chief ministerial candidate is yet to be taken. But the picture will be clear by 2 pm.” He also added that the new chief minister would be sworn in after 3 pm today.

While Rane attended the meeting with Gadkari, Sawant was not present in it, reported PTI.

The Congress, meanwhile, reached Raj Bhavan to stake the claim. Claiming that the Congress is the “single-largest party” in Goa, the party asked Governor Mridula Sinha to “dismiss the ruling BJP.” “We do not have an appointment, because she is refusing to give us time. But despite that, we have arrived here to meet the Governor to stake our claim. It is our right as a single largest party in the Goa assembly,” Goa Congress chief Chandrakant Kavlekar said.

The party later met the Governor and submitted a letter to her.

The Congress is currently the single-largest party in the state with 14 MLAs in the 40-member House. The BJP has 12 legislators and its government is supported by three MLAs each of the Goa Forward Party and Maharashtra Gomantak Party, and three Independents. There is also an NCP MLA in the assembly. All the alliance partners had been clear for long that they would support only a government led by Parrikar.

Adding that the alliance partners in the BJP-led government had agreed for a coalition only if Parrikar was heading the state, Congress wrote, “The BJP, therefore, has no allies as of now.”

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