IndiaPost.com - Digambar Kamat sworn in as Goa Chief Minister

PANAJI: Digambar Kamat, who played a key role in bringing down the BJP state government in 2005 and then joined the Congress, was on Friday sworn-in as the 19th chief minister of Goa to head a four-member coalition.

Governor S C Jamir administered the oaths of office and secrecy to Kamat at the Raj Bhavan. State Congress chief Ravi Naik, the prime contender for the chief minister's post, Nationalist Congress Party's Jose Piliphe D'Souza and Maharashtrawadi Gomatak Party's (MGP) Ramakrishna alias Sudin Dhavalikar were also sworn-in as cabinet ministers.

Fifty-year-old Kamat was the power minister in the previous Congress government led by Pratapsingh Rane. He played a crucial role in bringing down the Manohar Parrikar-led BJP government in February 2005.

He then joined the Congress and became power minister. The Congress, which bagged 16 seats in the assembly polls and its ally NCP three, garnered support from two MGP MLAs and two independents, including Vishwajeet, the son of former chief minister Rane, taking the coalition's tally to 23. Though it was agreed during initial discussions that the deputy chief minister's would be given to the NCP, party leaders are yet to formally announce the person who will hold this post.

"We are finalizing the modalities for the DCM's post... right now our priority was to install the government," NCP observer Gurunath Kulkarni told PTI. There were indications, however, that everything was not well within the NCP as the party changed its legislature wing leader on Thursday. Senior MLA Francisco alias Mickey Pacheco, who was in the race for the post of deputy chief minister was replaced by Jose Phillip D'Souza.

Apparently piqued by the move, Pacheco abstained from attending the swearing-in ceremony today where D'Souza was inducted into the state cabinet. "Pacheco had no formal approval from the central leadership," Kulkarni said, refusing to speak further on the issue that he termed as the "party's internal matter". When contacted, Pacheco too refused to comment. Another alliance partner, the MGP, sounded content at the developments.

MGP leader Dhavalikar, along with former chief minister Rane's son Vishwajeet, met the governor and insisted that they would support the coalition only if Ravi Naik was not made the chief minister. Incidentally, this development triggered a crisis in the Congress that was resolved later when Kamat emerged as a consensus candidate.