NEW DELHI: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who has not been keeping good health, will remain in the chair but the state Cabinet will see some new faces, BJP chief Amit Shah said Sunday.
"It has been decided during a discussion with the Goa BJP core team that Manohar Parrikar will continue to lead the Goa government. There will soon be a reshuffle of ministers and their portfolios," Shah tweeted.
The decision came after Shah's emissaries, party general secretary Ram Lal, Goa BJP chief Vinay Tendulkar and Union Minister of State Shripad Naik, visited the state and submitted their report.
Shah spoke to Goa Forward Party's (GFP) Vijay Sardesai, a minister in the Parrikar cabinet, after the other allies rejected the BJP chief's proposal to install Sudhin Dhavalikar of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and a minister to take charge as the deputy chief minister.
The Goa BJP had plunged into a crisis after Parrikar was admitted to Delhi's AIIMS recently, prompting the Congress to claim that it had the numbers to form the government in the state.
Over the past few months, Parrikar has been busy with the treatment of his pancreatic ailment and has not been able to attend office regularly. The Opposition Congress has alleged that his absence had led to the collapse of the administration. The party claimed to have the support of more than 21 legislators in the 40-member Assembly.
"We need the support of 21 MLAs and we have more than that," Leader of the Opposition, Chandrakant Kavlekar, claimed.
The Congress had emerged as the largest party in the state, with 16 lawmakers, after the 2017 elections, but could not work out an alliance. The BJP managed to bring together the regional parties — GFP and MGP — and three independents and grabbed power despite winning less seats than the Congress.