Amidst a tussle between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress Party over forming the government in Goa, former defence minister Manohar Parrikar was sworn-in as the chief minister of the coastal state on Tuesday.
While the Congress won 17 seats and the BJP got 13 in the recently concluded Assembly polls, the latter moved quickly to secure the support of smaller parties in order to secure 21 seats in the 40-member Assembly.
The Supreme Court today refused to stay the swearing-in ceremony, but ordered for a floor test to be held in the Goa Legislative Assembly on Thursday. "You (Congress) don't have the numbers and that's why you didn't claim to form government... You haven't demonstrated before the governor that number is in your favour," said Chief Justice J.S. Khehar.
Parrikar was sworn-in by Governor Mridula Sinha on Tuesday afternoon. Senior BJP leaders Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and Venkaiah Naidu were present at the ceremony.
Meanwhile, Congress Party leaders have dubbed the development as a short-term victory. "If someone wants to be Chief Minister for two days, he is welcome," Abhishek Manu Singhvi told NDTV.
If Parrikar wins the floor test, he will embark on his fourth term as the chief minister of Goa. The Times of Indiareported that nine other lawmakers (Sudin Dhavalikar and Manohar Azgaonkar of the Maharashtrawdi Gomantak Party, Vijai Sardesai, Vinod Palienkar and Jayesh Salgaonkar of the Goa Forward, Francis D'Souza, Pandurang Madkaikar of the BJP and independents Govind Gawde and Rohan Khaunte) were also sworn in as ministers today.
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