Panaji: The swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government in Goa, where the party has emerged as the single largest political force by winning 20 out of total 40 Assembly seats, will tentatively take place between March 23 and 25, senior party leaders said on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior BJP leaders will remain present for the event, they said.
Talking to reporters here, Goa's caretaker chief minister Pramod Sawant said the BJP observers will arrive in the state on Monday, after which the exact date of the swearing-in ceremony will be finalised. The BJP, which has secured the support of two Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLAs and three Independents, is yet to stake claim to form the new government in the coastal state, where the assembly poll results were declared on March 10. BJP leaders, including Sawant and Goa's state unit president Sadanand Shet Tanavade, held a meeting at the party office in Panaji on Sunday.
Also read: Pramod Sawant will head Goa government once again: Party MLAs
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Tanavade said the exact date of swearing-in of the new government would be announced once party observers arrive here and hold meeting of the legislative unit of BJP in Goa. "The swearing-in ceremony of the new government will be held tentatively between March 23 and 25," he said, adding that PM Modi would also attend the event.
Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai would administer the oath of secrecy to the new chief minister in a grand function planned at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium at Bambolim near here, he said. Replying to a query, Tanavade said the announcement about the new chief minister would be made by the central leadership after holding a meeting with the party MLAs. The formation of the new government in Goa has been kept on hold as it has to be done with other states, where the BJP has retained power, he added.
Sawant and his party colleague Vishwajit Rane had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Saturday evening, where party president J P Nadda and general secretary B L Santhosh were also present. Along with Sawant, Rane has expressed his desire to occupy the top post in the state.
PTI
