Panaji, Sep 25 || Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ganesh Gaonkar has been elected as the new Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly on Thursday, securing 32 votes and defeating his Congress rival, Altone D’Costa, who received just seven votes.
The election came after the resignation of former Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar.
The victory of Gaonkar was widely anticipated as the BJP has a clear majority in the assembly. BJP has 28 MLAs in the 40-member Assembly.
Apart from this, it also has the support of two MLAs of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and three Independents.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, while congratulating the new Speaker, expressed confidence that Gaonkar would conduct the Assembly proceedings with fairness.