Parrikar takes charge in Goa for fourth time

Panaji/ New Delhi: BJP leader Manohar Parrikar, who quit as the Defence Minister a day earlier, was sworn-in as Goa Chief Minister for the fourth time on Tuesday. The Supreme Court directed his new government to prove its majority via a floor test in the state assembly on Thursday.
The Congress has accused Goa Governor Mridula Sinha of acting unilaterally and inviting the Bharatiya Janata Party to form a government in Goa, without even meeting the 17 elected leaders of the Congress, which has emerged the largest party in the 40-member assembly after the state elections.
The Goa Governor administered the oath of office to Parrikar at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday evening.
While Parrikar and his nine-member cabinet were being sworn-in, hundreds of people protested near Raj Bhavan, accusing the newly appointed Chief Minister and the leader of Goa Forward of trying to subvert the electoral mandate and using unfair means to come to power in the coastal state.
Speaking to reporters after being sworn-in, Parrikar said the support garnered by the Bharatiya Janata Party was for the development of Goa.
“If there was support, then why did you (Congress) not go to the Governor? The support extended to BJP to form government is only for Goa’s development,” Parrikar told reporters after the swearing-in ceremony. (IANS)