Manohar Parrikar oath-taking ceremony: Congress hails SC floor test order

Panaji : Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled a floor test in Goa Assembly on Thursday. Congress hailed the decision and termed it as a great victory; while Goa CM-designate Manohar Parrikar reserved his comments and said he will speak only after he takes oath in the evening.

Directing the floor-test to determine the majority support, the bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R.K. Agrawal said that all the formalities prerequisite to the floor test, including by the Election Commission, would be completed by March 15.

"I will comment after the swearing-in," Parrikar told reporters in Panaji, when asked to comment on the apex court's decision to organize a floor test of his government on Thursday. Parrikar resigned as Defence Minister on Monday to take over the reins of a BJP-led government in Goa.

Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh called the Supreme Court's order a "great victory for the Congress".

The Congress had petitioned the apex court late on Monday alleging that Goa Governor Mridula Sinha had acted unilaterally and invited BJP to form a government in Goa, despite the fact that the Congress had emerged as the single largest party in the February 4 state assembly election with 17 seats.

The apex court did not stay the swearing in ceremony, but directed that a floor test be held on Thursday.