Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who met Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs in Panaji on Friday said that he will ideally resign on Saturday and the decision over the next state chief will also be taken tomorrow.
on Thursday, Parrikar had indicated that he may join the Union Cabinet at the Centre, saying the BJP has asked him to take any assignment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers.
The BJP is likely to shortlist three names as possible successor of Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is likely to be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers, a senior party leader said on Friday.
BJP's legislative wing, which will be meeting in Porvorim, will recommend names of Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza, state health minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Assembly Speaker Rajendra Arlekar as Parrikar's successor.
A senior party functionary while confirming the three names said a formal announcement would be made by BJP's Parliamentary Board after its meeting in Delhi tomorrow.
"It is a matter of pride that Parrikar is likely to be inducted as country's Defence Minister. But, we will surely miss him here in Goa," said party's state unit president Vinay Tendulkar after emerging from a closed-door meeting late last night.
He refused to divulge the names likely to be short listed as Parrikar's successor, but said, "Capable person would be given the post."
The Goa Chief Minister had held discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah in the national capital on Wednesday, leading to speculations that he may be given a Cabinet berth.
Among others, BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is expected to be allotted a Cabinet berth.
BJP veteran Yashwant Sinha's son Jayant too is in the race for the Cabinet berth, with reports suggesting that the Harvard MBA is being considered as a Minister of State (MoS) for Defence or Finance. Other key people who are expected to be promoted are MoS Nirmala Sitharaman and Haryana leader Birender Singh.
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