Panaji (Goa): Three-time MLA Pramod Sawant, who led the BJP to win 20 seats in the recently concluded elections to the 40-member Goa Assembly, was sworn in as the state's chief minister for the second time on Monday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries. Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai administered the oath to Sawant (48) and eight other BJP MLAs as cabinet ministers in a ceremony held at Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee stadium at Bambolim near the state capital Panaji in the presence of a large number of people.
Prime Minister Modi, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP national president J P Nadda, Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Maharashtra's former chief minister Devendra Fadanavis were among those who attended the event. Sawant took the oath in Konkani language. This is his second term as the state's chief minister.
He became the CM for the first time in March 2019 after the demise of then chief minister Manohar Parrikar. Besides Sawant, the others who took oath are - Vishwajit Rane, Mauvin Godinho, Ravi Naik, Nilesh Cabral, Subhash Shirodkar, Rohan Khaunte, Govind Gaude and Atanasio Monserratte. Rane, Godinho, Cabral and Gaude were part of the Sawant-led cabinet from 2019-22, while Khaunte was a minister in the Parrikar-headed government.
Sawant, an MLA from Sankhalim in North Goa, was elected as Goa BJP legislature wing head after the party won 20 seats, one short of a simple majority in the 40-member Assembly, in the polls held on February 14. Three independent MLAs and two legislators of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) have extended support to the BJP.
Sawant, incidentally, was groomed by Parrikar with aims that he should helm the affairs of the BJP in the state as part of the strategy to help generational shift in the leadership. After Parrikar's death following a prolonged battle with cancer in 2019, the BJP found Sawant ready to take the riegn of the state, becoming the Chief Minister. Beginning his journey as the Chief Minister after swearing-in as 13th Chief Minister of Goa on March 19, 2019, he made a mark in the BJP's Goa politics, stepping out of the shadow of the Parrikar and leading the party at a time when the aspirations of the senior leaders knew no limits.
His elevation to the top post in the coastal state followed hectic parleys between the BJP and its alliance partners. While Congress had emerge as the single largest party in 2017 Goa Assembly polls, Parrikar had cobbled up an alliance with the Goa Forward Party, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Independents to form the government. Sawant settled in the shadows of Parrikar to take the alliance partners onboard, providing political stability to the state.
Sawant carried forward the BJP's bid to deny tickets to sons and daughters of party's leaders to build the anti-dynasty poll plank in the Assembly polls in five states. With the BJP denying ticket to Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal Parrikar from his father's traditional seat, Panaji, Sawant is credited to have carried the party show and ensure the victory of the official nominee. Even former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and rebel BJP leader, who contested from the Mandrem Assembly seat as an Independent candidate lost. That was despite Parsekar building campaign on plank that he is "equidistant" from both Congress and the BJP.
Sawant is also credited in the BJP for keeping the party flock together, warding off 'poaching' bids of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC), the two new entrants in the electoral politics of Goa. 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 while Congress came a distant second with 11 seats.
The BJP has bagged the support of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and independent candidates. Sawant holds a Bachelor's Degree in Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery from Ganga Education Society's Ayurvedic College in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra. His wife Sulakshana heads the BJP Mahila Morcha in Goa.
With agency Inputs
