PANJIM: A day after taking oath as Chief Minister in an unprecedented midnight ceremony, Dr Pramod Sawant will have to prove his majority on the floor of the House on Wednesday.
“We have written to the Governor requesting her to hold the floor test tomorrow to prove our strength. We are ready for the floor test,” the chief minister told the media after assuming office.
The notification summoning the Assembly came hours after the new CM announced that he would try to keep the floor test on Wednesday. It states, “The Governor of Goa Smt Mridula Sinha has summoned the Legislative Assembly of the State of Goa to meet at Assembly hall on March 20, 2019, at 11.30 am.”
Following a 48-hour bargaining and discussion, Sawant was sworn-in in the wee-hours of Tuesday morning.
Though the vote is expected to be a mere formality, BJP would not wish to take any chances. What remains to be seen is whether BJP’s Cumbharjua MLA Pandurang Madkaikar, who underwent brain surgery, will be able to make it to the Assembly tomorrow.
In the 40-member Goa Legislative Assembly, four seats have fallen vacant that of Panjim, Mapusa, Mandrem and Shiroda. Two BJP MLAs Manohar Parrikar (Panjim) and Francis D’Souza (Mapusa) expired while former Congress MLAs Subash Shirodkar (Shiroda) and Dayanand Sopte (Mandrem) resigned from the Congress and joined BJP.
Meanwhile, the election to the new Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly is also expected to be held on Wednesday. The government is expected to propose the names of either Dy Speaker Michael Lobo or Bicholim MLA Rajesh Patnekar.
No names have come forward from the Opposition for the post of Speaker.
Sawant on Tuesday visited ailing MLA Pandurang Madkaikar at his Old Goa residence to inquire about his health. Sources revealed that Madkaikar will attend the assembly session on Wednesday after a gap of a year.
