the goan I network
PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who took charge of office on Tuesday will seek a vote of confidence on Wednesday as Governor Mridula Sinha summoned the legislative assembly to meet in the morning. The legislature secretariat said the legislative will convene at 11.30 am on Wednesday to take up the confidence vote in the Sawant government.
With Sawant having vacated the Speaker’s post to take over the mantle of chief minister following the death of Manohar Parrikar, Wednesday’s proceedings in the House will be presided over by Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo.
The strength of the 40-member House currently stands at 36, with the three seats going to the by-polls on April 23 and Panaji which was represented by Parrikar vacant. The Sawant-led coalition has a collective strength of 21 MLAs. Twelve of them belong to the BJP, three each to the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Goa Forward Party and three are Independents.
In terms of voting strength for the floor test, the treasury benches are expected to garner 20 since Lobo, who will be presiding, cannot vote except in the case of a tie.
On the other side of the aisle, the Opposition on paper can count on 15 votes with Congress having a strength of 14 MLAs and the lone NCP MLA, Churchill Alemao, throwing his lot with it.
Meanwhile, Sawant who was sworn in at 2 am on Tuesday as the head of a 12-member cabinet said he was confident of winning the floor test without any hitch.
Speaking to the media after taking charge of office at the Secretary on Tuesday morning, Sawant said he was confident that his government will face no hiccups in the floor test and everything will proceed “smoothly”. He also said portfolios will be allocated to his cabinet colleagues shortly after winning the vote of confidence. Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo, meanwhile, walked off the Raj Bhavan in a huff before the proceedings at the swearing-in ceremony could begin apparently in protest of being overlooked for a cabinet berth. He however said there was nothing to talk about it, when contacted.
The stitching together of the Sawant-led coalition on Monday while Parrikar’s funeral was taking place turned out to be a roller-coaster affair. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and BJP National president Amit Shah who led the negotiations hammering out a formula by which leaders of the MGP and GFP -- Sudin Dhavalikar and Vijai Sardesai -- were elevated as Deputy Chief Ministers. The entire Parrikar Cabinet was retained.
Earlier the talks had broken down multiple times through the day and the swearing-in ceremony, originally fixed for 9 pm had to be deferred at least twice and finally took place around 2 am on Tuesday. No explanations were given either by the Governor’s office or by the government for holding the ceremony at that unearthly hour.
