Goa Assembly floor test scheduled for Wednesday, says new CM Pramod Sawant
A delegation of the Goa Congress had staked claim to form the government on Monday.
Goa’s newly-appointed Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said a floor test will be held on Wednesday, ANI reported. Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo will preside over the session.
On Monday, a delegation of the Goa Congress, led by Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, met Governor Mridula Sinha at the Raj Bhavan to stake claim to form the government. The Bharatiya Janata Party had criticised the Congress for staking claim just a day after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar died of pancreatic cancer.
Goa has an Assembly strength of 40 seats. But with the death of Parrikar and another BJP MLA, and the resignation of two more BJP MLAs (who defected to the Congress), the house currently has only 36 members. The Congress has 14 MLAs in the House, the BJP 12, Goa Forward Party 3, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party 3 and Nationalist Congress Party 1. There are three Independent MLAs.
Goa Governor Mridula Sinha has summoned the Assembly to meet at 11.30 am on Wednesday, ANI reported.
Even though the Congress had won the most seats in elections in 2017, the BJP had moved faster to secure support from both the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, as well as the independents.