PANAJI
Fourth term MLA and former minister Ramesh Tawadkar is poised to be the next Speaker of the Goa legislative assembly after the ruling BJP-led coalition selected him as its nominee for the crucial post.
Tawadkar filed his nomination for the Speaker’s post on Sunday before the Legislature Secretary and was accompanied by Chief Minister-designate Pramod Sawant.
Sawant let the proverbial cat among the pigeons when he told the media at the Assembly Complex that Tawadkar will bag at least two-three votes in addition to the 25 of the BJP, MGP and the three Independents.
“You never know, we can even get 2-3 more votes from this side or that side. Even that is possible. You will come to know on the day of the Speaker’s election,” Sawant said.
A symbolic election for the Speaker’s post is on the cards on Tuesday, with the Opposition proposing to field former minister and Nuvem MLA, Aleixo Sequeira, as its joint nominee for the post.
Sequeira is expected to file his nomination on Monday.
The Speaker’s election is unlikely to spring any surprises and is expected to go Tawadkar’s way as the process will be held by a voice-vote and not by a secret ballot.
The practice of holding the Speaker’s election by secret ballot was discontinued in the Goa legislative assembly after the infamous 1994 episode in which the secret ballot was abandoned midway. Counting of the votes was abruptly stopped by the then pro-tem Speaker Somnath Zuwarkar when it was emerging that the Opposition-sponsored candidate, Surendra Sirsat was gaining over the ruling Congress-sponsored Tomazinho Cardozo and a voice-vote election was held.
The rules of conduct of business of the House were amended to do away with the provision which mandated the Speaker’s election to be held by a secret ballot.
