Caretaker CM Pramod Sawant's narrow win became a point against him after former health minister Vishwajit Rane emerged as a contender for the top job.
After days of speculation and uncertainty, Goa's caretaker chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday evening staked his claim to form the government, with the support of 25 legislators. These include 20 of the BJP with support from three independents and two legislators of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.
Earlier Monday evening, at a legislature party meeting at the party's head office, Sawant was unanimously elected as legislature party leader and chief minister of the state. He will be sworn in on 28 March, at a ceremony to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP top brass.
Sawant has not yet announced his cabinet, which is likely to be a tricky exercise, given the multiplicity of contenders for positions, including several former ministers, who have held cabinet rank both in BJP and Congress governments and expect the same.
For the moment, the BJP leadership, which is micro-managing and choreographing the entire exercise, is treading cautiously. It had already received flak for delaying the announcement of its chief minister and the staking claim to government formation after the party emerged as the single largest party on March 10.
The party won several seats by the skin of its teeth and with very small margins, while the chief minister Sawant scraped through with a mere 666 votes. Sawant's narrow win became a point against him after former health minister Vishwajit Rane emerged as a contender for the top job.
Rane and his wife Deviya, won by a sizable margin. Having crossed over from the Congress to the BJP during the past term, and bringing the two seats to the BJP's tally, Rane had emerged as a powerful challenger to Sawant. In addition, his innings and that of his father, former Congress chief minister Pratapsing Rane's, made him a face more acceptable both to business interests and across communities.
Sawant, who has taken a more parochial stance, does not enjoy the same popularity across the state's minority segments.
Finally, Sawant's RSS background saw him pull through in the tussle, after several meetings that were held in New Delhi, the last with Amit Shah, with both Rane and Sawant in attendance.
Rewarding allies
Ruling party legislators were also openly unhappy with the possible inclusion of the MGP into the government. A pre-poll ally of the TMC, the MGP lost no time in extending unconditional support to the BJP on March 10 itself. The MGP's Ramkrishna Sudin Dhavlikar, who enjoys a rapport with Devendra Fadnavis and Nitin Gadkari, has also steered his party to be a part of whichever government comes to power in Goa.
With the BJP falling short of a simple majority by one MLA in the 40 member house, it is dependent on three independents for the smooth functioning of the government, after the Speaker is appointed. Two of the independents are likely to get cabinet positions, while one from the MGP , sources said.
With cabinet size restricted to a maximum of 12, the jostling in the party has been intense for the remaining 8 berths. The BJP's task has been compounded by the fact that it now has several heavyweights, both from its own party and imports from the Congress, including a former chief minister Ravi Naik.
There's some disquiet in the new formation, and analysts suggest the leadership might delay naming its full cabinet until the floor test is over.
