The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the oath-taking of BJP’s chief minister candidate Manohar Parrikar and ordered a floor test to be held in the Goa Legislative Assembly on Thursday. Parrikar has been Goa’s chief minister twice before and has been credited with strengthening the BJP in the coastal state.
Manohar Prabhu Parrikar will take oath as 13th chief minister of Goa on March 14, 2017. He quit as the defence minister of India, a post he had been holding since November 2014 after first reshuffle of the Narendra Modi Cabinet. At the time, he was serving his second term as the Chief Minister of Goa.
Parrikar, 61, was handpicked by PM Modi for the coveted defence portfolio at the Centre because of his administrative and organisational skills. He has been deputed back to revive BJP’s fortunes in Goa, a state which the party has been ruling since 2012. Parrikar will replace incumbent incumbent chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
Parrikar’s term as the Defence Minister was marked by a continued period of tension on the India-Pak border, following a string of Pakistan-backed terrorist strikes and ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir. He also presided over the forces’ surgical strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), and their punitive response to ceasefire violations.