BJP parliamentary committee to decide on Goa CM candidate

Panaji (Goa) [India], March 10 (ANI): As Goa BJP is all set to form the government in the state, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Thursday said that the chief minister candidate would be decided only after BJP parliamentary committee's meeting.
"Our national BJP parliamentary committee will hold a meeting tonight. Tomorrow parliamentary board observers will visit Goa. They will hold a legislature party meeting where they will decide on the CM candidate for Goa. After that, we will meet the Governor and claim to form a government", added Reddy, who is BJP's co-in-charge for the Assembly elections in Goa.
According to the Union Minister, the BJP parliamentary board observers would visit all the states where it won- Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur. "Uttar Pradesh's victory and the election results in other states would also be analysed by the parliamentary committee", said Reddy while speaking to ANI after meeting the winning candidates in Goa.
"We retained power with a good number of majority in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur. It was challenging and the BJP accepted the challenge", he added.
"Goa is a special state with a Christian majority. Despite people telling that BJP is doing religious appeasement politics, BJP won thrice in Goa", added Reddy.
Speaking on BJP's win, Promod Sawant said he got calls from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah called and congratulated him on BJP's victory in Goa.
"It's great. We got a majority in Goa. The Parliamentary board observers will visit the state and after a meeting of the parliamentary legislature the swearing-in ceremony will be decided", said Sawant.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which fell one seat short of the majority figure in Goa is set to retain power in the state with the help of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak (MGP) and Independent candidates. The BJP emerged as the single largest party in Goa winning 20 seats in the 40-member state assembly and reduced Congress to 11 seats. Independent candidates bagged three seats while two seats each went to the tally of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak (MGP) tally. Revolutionary Goans Party and Goa Forward Party (GFP) got one seat each.
Goa election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday evening said that it will form a full majority government in the coastal state with the support of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak (MGP) and three independent MLAs-- Antonio Vas, Chandrakant Shetye and Alex Reginald."We have won 20 seats. MGP has also given us a letter of support. Three independent MLAs have also supported us. So, now we are 20+3+2 =25. There is a possibility that more candidates will join us. So we are forming the government," Fadnavis said in a press conference here.
In Goa, predictions were for a hung assembly, due to a multi-cornered contest with parties including the BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, and AAP.In 2017, Congress had emerged as the single largest party in the state, winning 17 seats but the BJP, which won 13 seats, managed to form the government with the support of the Goa Forward Party and the MGP which had won three seats each, and two independents. (ANI)