Big Boots To Fill: Following Parrikar’s Demise, Former Assembly Speaker Pramod Sawant Sworn In As Goa CM

Following a day of hectic parleying with its alliance partners Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Goa Forward Party (GFP) lasting late into the night, BJP’s Dr Pramod Sawant was sworn in as the 24th Chief Minister of the state at the wee hours of morning today (19 March).

Goa Governor Mridula Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Chief Minister of Goa around 1.50am on Tuesday (19 March).
Before taking oath as the CM, Sawant resigned from the post of Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly.

MGP leader Ramakrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar and GFP chief Vijai Sardesai who were sworn in as cabinet ministers are likely to be appointed as deputy chief ministers in the new cabinet.

Independent MLAs Rohan Khaunte and Govind Gaude, GFP legislators Vinod Palekar and Jayesh Salgaonkar MGP MLA Manohar Ajgaonkar also took oath as ministers.

Four BJP MLA’s - Mauvin Godinho, Vishwajit Rane, Milind Naik and Nilesh Cabral - were also inducted in to the cabinet.

The new government has a simple majority in the assembly with the support of 20 MLAs, including 11 from the BJP and three each from GFP, MGP and independents.

The strength of the House has reduced due to demise of senior BJP MLA Francis D'Souza earlier this year, and Parrikar on Sunday, and resignations of two Congress MLAs Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte last year.

The Congress is currently the single largest party in the state with 14 MLAs. The BJP has 12 legislators in the 40-member Assembly, whose strength now is 36 after Parrikar's death.

On the direction of BJP president Amit Shah, Union minister Nitin Gadkari made a dash to the tiny coastal state early Monday (18 March) to play troubleshooter and facilitate the formation of the government.

Following a day of frenetic negotiations with alliance partners in a Dona Paula-based hotel, BJP zeroed in on Sawant. Health Minister Vishwajit Rane was also a strong contender for the top post but BJP chose Sawant.

MGP president Pandurang (Deepak) Dhavalikar is also said to have given a written assurance to the BJP that he would withdraw from the Shiroda bypolls.

Sawant, the new Chief Minister of Goa, comes from a Sangh background. He represents Sanquelim constituency in the Goa Legislative Assembly.

An Ayurveda practitioner by profession, 45 year old Sawant obtained a Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery degree from the Ganga Education Society's Ayurvedic Medical College in Kolhapur and is a postgraduate degree of Master of Social Work from the Tilak Maharashtra University at Pune.

His wife Sulakshana is a teacher of chemistry by profession. She is also a leader of the BJP and currently the President of the Goa unit of the BJP Mahila Morcha.