Parrikar set to take oath as Goa chief minister

Bharatiya Janata Party's Manohar Parrikar will be sworn in as chief minister of Goa on Friday.

Six other legislators would be sworn in as ministers.

Senior BJP leaders, including L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj, will attend the oath taking ceremony that is being held at the Sports Authority of Goa ground.

Party sources said that seven people, including the chief minister, would be taking oath during the first round this evening. The cabinet expansion would be held later after presentation of the state budget.

The first lot of ministers includes two legislators from minority community -- Francis D'Souza and Matanhy Saldanha -- who were in the Parrikar cabinet when his government was toppled in 2005.

BJP Goa unit president Laxmikant Parsekar, who got elected from Mandrem constituency, tribal leader Ramesh Tawadkar and Dayanand Mandrekar will also be taking oath.

Ramakrishna Dhavalikar, a legislator from Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, will also be inducted in the cabinet on Friday. He was transport minister in Congress-led cabinet and had resigned before March 3 polls.

MGP had fought Goa polls in alliance with the BJP.

The saffron party led by Parrikar had swept March 3 polls reducing Congress numbers to a single digit in the legislative assembly.

Parrikar will chair the first-ever cabinet meeting after the swearing in on Friday.