A preliminary inquiry suggests electric firecrackers caused a devastating nightclub fire in Goa, resulting in 25 deaths. The incident has exposed illegalities and lax enforcement of safety rules.
The Goa unit of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday revoked the appointment of its spokespersons in the state with immediate effect and the names of new appointees will be announced in the next couple of days, the party's senior functionary said.
The cabinet of the new government led by Rekha Gupta balances representation of all major communities that propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Delhi with a massive majority after over 26 years.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has been a party with a difference and that is why it has repeatedly won the trust of voters, but cautioned against the saffron outfit repeating mistakes committed by the Congress in the past which saw its exit from power.
The "guests from Goa", BJP sources said, have been shifted to a private farm house on the Jaipur-Ajmer road, about 20 km from Jaipur.
Parrikar has been admitted to the AIIMS for follow-up treatment reportedly for a pancreatic ailment.
The Goa unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced that it will observe the birthday of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in a simple manner in Panaji on Sunday.
The government is functioning 'very well' and all the alliance partners are firmly supporting Parrikar, who is undergoing treatment at Delhi's AIIMS, the BJP leader asserted.
Renowned oncologist and former chief of the Indian Medical Association's Goa unit Dr Shekhar Salkar said the number of cancer cases is on the rise with the increase in population across the world.
A senior BJP leader said a reshuffle was likely in the next few days as the party would need to accommodate at least a couple of Congress MLAs who have crossed over,
BJP leader and caretaker chief minister Pramod Sawant is the clear favourite for the post of the CM but faces some opposition.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which entered the fray with much fanfare, failed to make any impact at the hustings.
The Congress legislators, led by Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar, demanded that the governor should summon one-day session of the assembly for a floor test.
The controversial Silly Souls bar and restaurant operates from the same address -- House No. 452, Bouta Vaddo, Assagao -- from which a company controlled by Irani's husband and family, Eightall Food and Beverage, conducts its primary business, Chodankar said.
A day after the exit polls predicted a hung assembly in Goa, hectic political activities have begun in the state with the Congress focusing on keeping its flock together and plans to shift all its candidates to a resort, a senior party leader said on Tuesday.
Both the BJP and the Congress said they will seek support of the MGP in case they fall short of the majority mark of 21.
Goa minister and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Michael Lobo on Monday resigned from the Pramod Sawant-led ministry and also as member of the legislative assembly, ahead of the state polls scheduled next month.
Naik is apparently upset as his son Siddhesh was hopeful for a ticket from Cumbharjua constituency which was represented by Madkaikar before joining the BJP.
The Manohar Parrikar-led government was dismissed by Governor S C Jamir on Wednesday after it won a confidence vote amidst chaos and confusion over the disqualification of an independent member.
Vishwajit Rane, who had unsuccessfully lobbied for the CM's post, has been given crucial Health and Town and Country Planning Portfolios along with Urban Development, Women and Child, and Forest departments.
A Goa Bharatiya Janata Party legislator has been caught on camera allegedly leading a group of people that demolished two structures in Calangute-Baga coastal belt, claiming they housed dance bars and sex workers.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it was not disappointed with the results of Goa Assembly elections though the outcome was not up to the expectations.
Many of the Congress stalwarts including four from Churchill Alemao family and state party chief Subhas Shirodkar bit the dust as the Bharatiya Janata Party-Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party alliance on Tuesday managed to bag majority of seats in Goa assembly elections.
The lowest victory margin of 76 was recorded in St Andre constituency in North Goa, where Revolutionary Goans Party, a new political outfit in the state, made its debut by defeating BJP candidate and sitting MLA Francis Silveira. RGP candidate Viresh Borkar won the contest.
'TMC was calling me, AAP was also calling me.' 'But my supporters helped me realise that the people of Goa are backing the Congress this time to defeat the BJP.'
Five Goa Congress MLAs, who went incommunicado a day before, attended the state assembly proceedings on the first day of the monsoon session on Monday, and claimed there was 'nothing wrong' in the opposition party.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Goa looks all set to score a hattrick in the coastal state with the support of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, as vote counting trends of the February 14 elections indicated the BJP missing the majority mark by a whisker.
On Thursday, the BJP emerged as the single largest party by winning 20 seats in the 40-member assembly, just one short of the majority mark, and later said it has secured support from regional outfit MGP, which bagged two seats.
The BJP has the cadres, organisation, and extensive funding. But in the absence of a towering political personality like Manohar Parrikar, the Goa outcome is hard to predict.
Sawant took the oath in Konkani language.
If pandemic (mis)management threatened to dominate Goa's electoral discourse, the BJP is up against a deeper structural issue in its organisation, created by the fact that a majority of the legislature party and the ministerial council is made up of Congress defectors, disparagingly referred to by the Opposition as "imports". Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manohar Parrikar is all set to become the chief minister of Goa for the third time after the BJP-MGP combine on Wednesday staked its claim to form the government with the support of 26 legislators and the swearing -in will be held on Friday.
Incumbents Pushkar Singh Dhami and Pramod Sawant are the clear favourites but face some opposition
In Goa, where Assembly elections are a few months away, a delegation of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders led by Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy and including former Union Minister Babul Supriyo and the party's vice president Luizinho Faleiro met Governor P S Sridharan Pillai and requested him to immediately seek resignation from the chief minister and announce investigation by an independent agency.
The election of BJP's Rajendra Arlekar, from Vasco and Dayanand Mandrekar from Siolim in the May 2002 election was set aside by a single-judge bench.
Seventeen BJP legislators arrived in Jaipur in a regular private airline and are put up in a resort on the outskirts of the city, party sources said.
'This is the first time in Goa politics that a communal leadership is being foisted on Goa's people.'
Parrikar's poor health has sparked speculation over his continuation as the chief minister of Goa, and Shah had recently sent a central party leaders team to the coastal state to speak to allies and take stock of political situation.
"I am leaving for Delhi on a business trip. It is purely personal," Kamat said before boarding the flight.
"By next week, the government will work out the exact arrangement through which the work burden on Parrikar could be reduced," he said.
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