Pramod Sawant to be sworn-in as Goa CM for second term today, PM Modi to be in attendance
Synopsis
Sawant, who will take charge, will take oath in PM Modi’s presence like his counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where the BJP won in the recent Assembly elections.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Pramod Sawant will be sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Goa for the second term on Monday after BJP secured 20 seats in the 40 member Goa Assembly in the recently concluded elections.
Sawant, who will take charge, will take oath in PM Modi’s presence like his counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where the BJP won in the recent Assembly elections.
A replica of the Goa Assembly has been created on the stage at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Taleigao where the ceremony will take place Monday morning.
Speaking to ANI, Sawant said, “We have sent invitations to all Chief Ministers, Union Ministers, top designated industrialists and missionaries. It is an open program. I will meet the public soon. Preparations are underway for the event.”
While there are 12 ministerial berths in the Goa government, Sawant said a decision on how many ministers will take oath on Monday had not been taken yet. While ministers in the previous government Vishwajit Rane, Mauvin Godinho and Nilesh Cabral are tipped to return to Sawant’s Cabinet, the BJP has an arduous task before it ensuring representation to Goa’s 12 talukas, its different castes and religions.
Sawant (48) is an MLA from Sankhalim in North Goa. He was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly when the BJP formed its government under the leadership of Manohar Parrikar in 2017. He was sworn-in as the Chief Minister for the first time in March 2019 after Parrikar’s death. Sawant, an Ayurveda medical practitioner, was at the helm when the coastal state faced the Covid-19 pandemic along with other parts of the country.
In the recently concluded state Assembly polls, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in Goa, winning 20 seats in the 40-member state Assembly and reducing Congress to 11 seats. The BJP fell one seat short of the majority figure in Goa but is set to retain power in the state with the help of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and independent candidates.
