Digambar Kamat, who joined Congress two years ago after quitting Bharatiya Janata Party, will be sworn as Goa chief minister on Friday at the head of a four-member coalition government.
Kamat, the 54-year-old power minister in the present Congress government, was "unanimously" elected as the leader of Congress Legislature Party at its meeting in Panaji well after midnight on Thursday night, All India Congress Committee General Secretary in charge of party affairs in Goa told reporters after the meeting.
Besides Kamath, the MLA from Margao, Goa Congress chief Ravi Naik and one representative each from coalition partners NCP and Maharasthrawadi Gomantak Party will be sworn in on Friday, Alva said.
The name of Kamath, who had played a key role in engineering the downfall of the BJP-led government in Goa headed by Manohar Parikkar in 2005, for the top post was proposed by outgoing Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane and seconded by Naik.
The CLP meeting was attended by all 16 MLAs of Congress besides AICC observers Alva and Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.
Asked about differences in the party over leadership issue, Alva said, "All the leaders will work as a team."
Kamath became the compromise choice for the post after opinions among Congress MLAs were sharply divided on whether Rane or Naik would become the chief minister.
In a brief media appearance after his election as CLP leader, Kamath said he would be able to provide a stable government because, "...I am known to take everybody into confidence while making decisions and I don't have any ego problem."
Asked about his priorities as chief minister, he said he has not given thought to it.
The late night CLP meeting that lasted for more than two hours, came after AICC observers Sushil Kumar Shinde and Margaret Alva held nearly four hours of talks with the party MLAs during the day.
Later on Thursday evening, Shinde had a meeting with Rane. As it became clear that Kamat would be the new chief minister, supporters of Naik shouted slogans against the Congress high command at the venue of the CLP meeting.
Shinde, Alva and other Congress leaders elicited the views of individual MLAs separately at a hotel in Panaji.
But a peeved Rane was not present during the exercise. After the meeting, Shinde drove to the official residence of the chief minister and met him. Rane's son, Vishwajeet, an independent MLA, who has extended support to the alliance, was also present.
Congress, which won 16 seats in the June 2 assembly polls, and NCP have decided to form government in the state backed by two independents and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, which has two MLAs.
The election of Kamath as CLP leader came two days after the results of Goa assembly elections were announced throwing up a fractured verdict which saw Congress-NCP alliance emerging as the largest single group.
