Pramod Sawant takes oath as Goa’s CM for second time in presence of Modi, Shah and other BJP heavyweights

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Mumbai: Dr Pramod Sawant on Monday took oath as the Chief Minister of Goa for the second time along with eight ministers in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other top guns of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium in Goa’s Taleigao area was spruced up for Dr Pramod Sawant’s swearing-in ceremony. Dr Sawant, had retained the Sanquelim Assembly seat for the third consecutive term following a hard-fought electoral contest in which he defeated his nearest Congress rival Dharmesh Saglani – by a slender margin of 666 votes. 

Besides Modi and Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP national president J.P. Nadda, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Goa election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis among others were present on the occasion.

The eight ministers who took oath as cabinet ministers included – Vishwajit Rane, Mauvin Godinho, Ravi Naik, Nilesh Cabral, Subhash Shirodkar, Rohan Khaunte, Govind Gavde, Atanasio Monserrate were given oath as cabinet ministers today. Dr Sawant was elected as the leader of the BJP legislative party and Chief Minister of Goa last Monday. Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai administered the oath. 

In the just declared results on March 10, to the 40-seat Goa Assembly elections the BJP won a decisive 20 seats to coast to victory while defying gloomy anti-incumbency predictions and forming a government for the third consecutive term. The BJP’s main challenger, the Congress, won only 11 seats. 

Soon after the results, the party’s majority was further strengthened in the Goa legislative assembly after three independents unconditionally pledged their support to the new government along with two MLAs from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), which had fought the elections in alliance with the Trinamool Congress on an anti-BJP plank.   

On March 27, BJP MLA from Canacona, Ramesh Tawadkar filed his nomination for Speaker’s post in the Goa Assembly. The Speaker’s election is to be held on Tuesday after Sawant’s swearing-in. 

Sawant, who accompanied Tawadkar to file his nomination, said: “We submitted three forms including a proposal by independent Aleixo Reginaldo which was seconded by Subhash Faldessai. The second was proposed by Subhash Shirodkar and seconded by Reginaldo while the third was proposed by Jennifer Monserrate and seconded by Nilkanth Halarnkar. We are confident of Tawadkar’s victory in the election to the Speaker’s post.” 

Dr Sawant further hinted at further support in the form of two or three other MLAs, while refusing to name from which party they were. 

The Goa State Industries Association (GSIA) in a statement issued here urged Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant to appoint ministers with ‘integrity, merit and who were development oriented’ while stressing that the coastal State lagged behind in diversifying its industrial base, leading to fewer employment opportunities and more migration to other states offering better incentives.