Pramod Sawant of BJP sworn-in as new CM of Goa

March 19: Pramod Sawant, Goa Legislative Assembly Speaker and BJP leader was sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Goa in a late night ceremony conducted well past midnight at 2am, two days after Manohar Parrikar passed away after his battle with cancer.

The crucial transition of power in the coastal state necessitated by Parrikar’s death on Sunday capped frenzied political developments, with the Congress too staking claim to power. Apart from the CM and his two deputies, nine other ministers of the state cabinet were also sworn in at the late-night ceremony. The new government has two deputy chief ministers, Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar, from the two small parties backing BJP in the coastal state.

Sawant was elected leader of the BJP legislature party at a meeting held in the state capital minutes after Parrikar was given a state funeral with full military honours. The Goa Congress slammed Governor Mridula Sinha for giving the BJP a chance to form the government, and called her an “agent of the BJP”.