Himachal Guv Vishwanath Arlekar likely to be next Goa CM

Sources said that Arlekar had a closed-door meeting with PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday amid a power tussle for the Goa CM post between Dr. Pramod Sawant and Vishvajit Rane suggesting that he is likely to bag the top post.

Panaji: Himachal Pradesh Governor and former cabinet minister of Goa Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar is likely to be appointed as the CM of the BJP government in Goa where the party is all set to form the next government after winning the majority in the assembly polls.

Sources said that Arlekar had a closed-door meeting with PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday amid a power tussle for the Goa CM post between Dr. Pramod Sawant and Vishvajit Rane suggesting that he is likely to bag the top post.

While the BJP fought the Goa election under the leadership of Pramod Sawant, Vishvajit Rane's name came to the fore as the contender for the CM post putting the party's top brass in a dock. Rane's recently called on Goa Governor P. S. Sridharan Pillai triggering speculations that his name is also in the race for the Chief Minister's post.

However, the two are believed to make way for Arlekar if sources are to be believed. Sawant and ex-Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis had recently come to Delhi where Sawant called on PM Narendra Modi today.

Who is Arlekar

Rajendra Arlekar is currently the 21st Governor of Himachal Pradesh. He has been a Cabinet Minister in Goa and a former speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly. Arlekar has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since his childhood.

He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1989. He has been an active member of the Goa BJP since the 1980s. He has held various positions which include General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party Goa Pradesh, Chairman of Goa Industrial Development Corporation, Chairman of Goa State Scheduled Castes, and Other Backward Classes Financial Development Corporation, General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party Goa unit, South Goa President of Bharatiya Janata Party.

When Manohar Parrikar was roped in as the Union Defence Minister in 2014, Arlekar was considered for the next Chief Minister but the party chose Laxmikant Parsekar as the next Chief Minister instead. He is credited with making Goa Legislative Assembly paperless, the first state assembly to do so.

In 2015, he was appointed the Minister for Environment and Forests during the reshuffling of the cabinet. On 6 July 2021, he was appointed Himachal Pradesh Governor when the incumbent Bandaru Dattatreya was made the Governor of Haryana.

Pertinently, in the exit polls, before the assembly election results for the five states, it was speculated that BJP would get 15-16 seats and Congress would get 17-18 seats making the MGP a potential kingmaker with estimated 5-7 seats. Sudin Dhavalikar of MGP had held meetings with Congress and BJP leaders later. It was said that in the meeting with BJP, he had opposed the name of Pramod Sawant for the post of Chief Minister.

Sources said that Dhavalikar was aspiring for the CM post for MGP. Vishwajit Rane's name was at the forefront at that time.

Vishwajit Rane met Governor

A few days back, Vishwajit Rane had met Governor Pillai and had called it a private visit. “I wanted to discuss with him the development work in my constituency. I took his blessings,” he had said. After the meeting, speculations had started that Rane is in the race of the Chief Minister post with the support of MGP and some BJP leaders. It was learned that this group of BJP.

Rane Family strong in Goa politics

Former Chief Minister and Goa's veteran politician Pratap Singh Rane had been contesting from the Poriyam constituency for the last 32 years. In the recent elections, the BJP had asked him to either fight the election from Poriyam or propose any name from his family. Vishwajit Rane was eager to contest from the Poriyam.

But Pratap Singh recommended the name of Divya Rane, the wife of Vishwajit Rane. Divya is a doctor by profession and was elected polling the highest number of 17,816 votes. Vishwajit Rane won by polling 12,262 votes from Valpoi. BJP has given Pratap Singh Rane the status of a lifelong cabinet minister.

Pramod Sawant contested from the Sankali constituency. He received a total of 12,250 votes and won in a closely fought contest with Dharmesh Sangalani of the Congress who got a total of 11,584 votes.

Vishwajit for BJP

Vishwajit Rane was the Health Minister in Pramod Sawant's government. After Pratap Singh Rane, Vishwajit Rane has carried on the legacy of the Rane family with his wife Divya into politics now winning from Poriyam.

Devendra Fadnavis's stand matters

Devendra Fadnavis, in charge of BJP's Goa unit, held a press conference after the counting of votes where he had explained the process of selection of Chief Minister to the media persons but avoided mentioning Pramod Sawant's name. It was said that he had done it because of internal turmoil in the BJP. But it has been learned that Fadnavis will play an important role in the selection of Chief Minister of Goa after being mandated by the BJP top brass.