BJP allies Sudin Dhavalikar, Vijay Sardesai appointed Goa Deputy CMs

Mar 20 (AZINS) Sudin Dhavalikar and Vijay Sardesai were Wednesday appointed deputy chief ministers in the BJP-led government in Goa.

A notification issued by Varsha Naik, Under Secretary in the General Administration department, said the two are being appointed as deputy chief ministers with immediate effect.

Dhavalikar belongs to the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Sardesai is chief of Goa Forward Party (GFP).

The two parties are part of the BJP-led state government, formed yesterday.

Earlier today, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant proved the majority of his BJP-led government in the Assembly, comfortably winning a floor test in the House.

When Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo asked for division of votes, 20 MLAs supported the confidence motion in the two-day-old government, while 15 legislators opposed it.

The effective strength of the 40-member Assembly is now 36, after death of two members and resignation by two others.

The change in leadership in the coastal state was necessitated due to the death of the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday.

After winning the floor test, Sawant appealed to House members to "be positive", echoing a message given by Parrikar earlier.

The special Assembly session was convened by Governor Mridula Sinha to conduct the floor test, after Sawant, who was earlier speaker of the Assembly, was sworn in as the chief minister in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Besides 11 members from BJP, three each from the Goa Forward Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and three Independents supported Sawant during the head count conducted in the House.

All 14 MLAs of the Congress and one from the NCP stood up against the motion.

On Wednesday, BJP MLA and former minister Pandurang Madkaikar, ailing since last year, made his first appearance in the House since June 2018. He was brought in a wheelchair.

Madkaikar, who was earlier power minister, suffered a brain stroke last year and has been recuperating at his home in Old Goa.

The strength of the 40-member House has been reduced to 36 after two sitting MLAs Parrikar and D'Souza - died while two Congress legislators, Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte, resigned to join the BJP.