PANAJI: Manohar Parrikar today resigned as the Defence Minister to take over the new role as Goa Chief Minister. "I have tendered my resignation as Defence Minister. The resignation letter has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office this morning," Parrikar said today. Goa Governor Mridula Sinha has invited Parrikar to form the next government in the coastal state after he submitted a letter of support from 21 legislators yesterday.
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"I will be taking the oath tomorrow evening along with the cabinet ministers," he added.
Asked how many ministers would be sworn in, Parrikar said, "The decision on the number of ministers and other issues are being currently worked out. Once the cabinet is finalised, we will inform the media."
The BJP, which failed to cross the half-way mark in the assembly polls with its tally dipping to 13 from 21, pulled off a coup yesterday by enlisting the support of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), Maharastrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and two Independents, to reach the magic figure of 21 in the 40-member house.
Thirteen BJP MLA and other legislators who pledged support to the party met Governor Mridula Sinha last evening, who later invited Parrikar to form the government.
The BJP stole a march on the Congress which failed to muster the numbers despite emerging as the single-largest party with 17 seats.
The Congress was hoping to get the support of the GFP which has bagged three seats in its maiden bid at the hustings.
But by deft moves, coordinated by party veteran and Union minister Nitin Gadkari, the BJP succeeded in keeping the Congress at bay, winning over smaller parties and Independents, who were keen that Parrikar should lead the ministry.
Parrikar, 61, an engineer from IIT-Bombay, led the BJP in 2012 to victory and became the Chief Minister. He, however, was made the Defence Minister at the Centre in 2014 and was succeeded by Laxmikant Parsekar as the Chief Minister.
Parsekar was defeated in Mandrem constituency this time and also most of the ministers in his cabinet failed to win.
Parrikar, who graduated to the BJP from the RSS ranks, had also served as Chief Minister of the state from 2000 to 2002 and from 2002 to 2005.
Right from the start of the campaign this time, Parrikar was widely seen as the chief minister probable. He also extensively campaigned for the party in his home state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the campaign and before, lavished praises on Parrikar over his competence and decision-making capacity as the Defence Minister, especially in the context of the surgical strike on terror launch pads across the border in Jammu and Kashmir.
Asked about his two-year stint at the Centre, Parrikar said, "Initially I was finding the role as the Defence Minister as difficult but during last two-and-a-half years I have done my job well. I have done it with utter honesty."
"The Defence Ministry is such a portfolio where allegations are always levelled against the minister but during last two-and-a-half years, despite so much of procurement, there is not a single allegation against the ministry or me," he said.
"If I want to sum up my achievements as the Defence Minister, I can say, these are boosting of the morale of the force and better procurements," he said.
Parrikar said that through various defence deals, the ministry has saved crores of rupees as many tenders had earlier been over-quoted.
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