Goa CM Manohar Parrikar wins trust vote

Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar won a crucial trust vote in the Goa assembly on Thursday as 22 legislators backed the BJP-led coalition, potentially drawing the curtains on a dramatic government formation process in the coastal state.

Parrikar, who stepped down as the defence minister, was sworn in as the chief minister of the coastal state for the fourth time on Tuesday evening, along with nine ministers.

The BJP won the support of 12 of



its own MLAs – excluding pro-tem speaker Sidharth Kuncalienker -- three each from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the Goa Forward Party, three independent lawmakers and a Nationalist Congress Party legislator.

The floor test was ordered by the Supreme Court after the Congress approached the top court three days ago, alleging that governor Mridula Sinha had broken the law by not calling the single-largest party, the Congress, to form the government.