17th January saw the death of 4 time-Goa CM and ex-defense minister, Manohar Parrikar after his long battle with pancreatic cancer. Various politicians and celebrities came to Twitter to offer condolence to his family and remembered how great of a leader he was.
His death has reportedly brought back the political instability in Goa as BJP and its allies are having a tough time to choose his successor.
Parrikar’s death has proved to weaken BJP in the numbers game against its opposition, Congress which, with 14 legislators in the 40-member Goa assembly, is the single largest party.
BJP’s strength has now reduced to 12 which Congress claims to be only 11 not counting the assembly speaker Pramod Sawant.
Another issue that stands in front of BJP are the two smaller parties- Maharashtravadi Gomantak Paksha (MGP) and Goa Forward (GF) which were a part of the BJP-led coalition after February 2017 elections on the express condition that Parrikar should be the CM.
Congress approached the Goa governor on Sunday night itself claiming that the BJP had lost the support of the MGP and GF since the two smaller parties were supporting the BJP as long as Parrikar was holding the seat.
The Congress restated its desire to form a government in a letter faxed to the Governor's office which expressed its sadness over the sad demise of the CM and claimed that the unfortunate development calls for an immediate action on the governor’s part for a smooth transition and transfer of power.
Meanwhile, BJP too took an action as senior BJP leader and Goa in-charge and union minister Nitin Gadkari landed in Goa late Sunday night and held a series of meetings throughout the night with the legislators of the BJP and allies MGP and GF as well as three Independents on the issue of selecting a successor to Parrikar however, there was no solution by the end.
According to sources, the discussions will continue post-funeral.