BJP still unsure about Goa CM; Sawant to meet Nadda

Panaji: With the BJP unable to get a fix on its chief ministerial nominee in Goa, five days after election results returned the saffron outfit as the single largest party, just one short of the majority mark, caretaker Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is headed for the national capital to meet BJP national President J.P. Nadda.

"I am going to Delhi to meet the party President," Sawant told reporters at the Assembly complex here, after taking oath as a re-elected legislator.

The BJP has 20 MLAs in the 40-member Goa Assembly, just one short of a simple majority. The ruling party, however, has received letters of unconditional support from three Independent MLAs and the two-member Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).

While Sawant was sworn-in as a caretaker Chief Minister by Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai on March 12, BJP legislators have not formally chosen their legislative party leader so far.

On Monday, the top BJP leadership appointed Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and L. Murugan as observer and co-observer, respectively, for the election of the leader of Goa's legislative party.

Meanwhile, amid reports of a rivalry between Sawant and his now former Health Minister Visjwajit Rane in the race for the top chair, Rane's wife, newly-elected MLA Deviya Rane, created a flutter on Tuesday by saying that her husband, like any elected legislator, is ready to accept the top chair.

"Of course, any elected representative can be ready and he (Visjwajit Rane) is a very experienced politician. But the final decision is of the central committee," Deviya Rane told reporters after she was asked if her husband is ready to take up the top post.

She, however, said that there is no dissent over the choice of chief minister within the BJP, adding that the decision is left to the party's high command.

"The party will decide, its central leaders will decide... Whatever they decide is the final decision," she said, as she blamed mediapersons for 'fabricating' a 'rift' between Rane and Sawant.

Last week, Visjwajit Rane's sudden visit to the Raj Bhavan had triggered a political turmoil in Goa, with a section of the media claiming that the former Health Minister was making a pitch for the CM's post.

Visjwajit Rane had, however, dismissed the reports as 'baseless' and 'bereft of fact'.