Pramod Sawant takes oath as Chief Minister of Goa for second term

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and his cabinet colleagues on taking oath, expressing confidence that they will deliver good governance to the state's people and build on the pro-people work done in the last decade. 

Goa BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade on Monday said a decision on three state cabinet berths currently vacant will be taken "within a month or two". He was speaking to reporters minutes after Pramod Sawant took as the Goa's chief minister and eight other BJP MLAs were sworn in as cabinet ministers at a function. The induction of three more ministers in the state cabinet would be done ôwithin a month or two",Tanavade said, but refused to reveal whether those berths will be filled by non-BJP legislators. Besides chief minister, the Goa cabinet can have 11 more ministers. 

BJP's Vishwajit Rane, Mauvin Godinho, Ravi Naik, Nilesh Cabral, Subhash Shirodkar, Rohan Khaunte, Govind Gaude, & Atanasio Monserrate, take oath as Goa's cabinet ministers.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Sawant on Monday took oath as the Chief Minister of Goa for the second consecutive term. Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai administered him the oath of office and secrecy at an event organised at Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Stadium, Panaji.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached the venue in Panaji where Pramod Sawant will take oath as the Chief Minister of Goa for second term. 

Talking to PTI Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), said, "The two-day nationwide strike by the joint forum of central trade unions has begun this morning". About the impact of the agitation, she said that the entire coal belt (mining area) is affected in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. She also said that there is a good response in industrial areas of Assam, Haryana, Delhi, West Bengal, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan, Goa and Odisha. The AITUC official noted that the banks and insurance sectors are affected all over India, while steel and oil sectors are also seeing partial impact due to the strike.

Sources told India TV that several Ministers will take oath today. They are: Vishwajeet Rane (MLA, Valpai); Movein Gudinho (MLA, Dabolim); Ravi Naik (MLA, Fonda); Nilesh Kabral (MLA, Kudchade); Subahsh Shirodkar (MLA, Shiroda); Rohan Khaunte (MLA, Parvarim); Babush Monserratte (MLA, Panaji); Govind Gaude (MLA, Priyol)

This would be the BJP's third consecutive government in Goa and Sawant's second term. The party had won elections in 2012 under the leadership of Manohar Parrikar. He had to resign in November 2014 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed him as the Defence Minister. He was succeeded by Laxmikant Parsekar. After 2017 polls, when the Goa Legislative Assembly was delivered with a fractured mandate, the BJP managed to form an alliance government despite emerging as the second largest party with 13 seats in the 40-member House. The BJP had then sent Parrikar back to Goa to lead the government. When Parrikar died in March 2019, the BJP leadership handpicked Sawant to sit at the helm of affairs in the state.

People wearing black masks or black clothing will not be allowed inside the venue of the swearing-in ceremony of Goa chief minister designate Pramod Sawant on Monday, state BJP chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade said. The ceremony will take place at 11am in Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium near here in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and others, Tanavade told reporters on Saturday. "People wearing black masks and black dresses will not be allowed inside the venue. However, the ceremony is open to all," he said.

Pramod Sawant (48) is an MLA from Sankhalim in North Goa. He was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly when the BJP formed its government under the leadership of Manohar Parrikar in 2017. He was sworn-in as the chief minister for the first time in March 2019 after Parrikar's death. Sawant, an Ayurveda medical practitioner, was at the helm when the coastal state faced the COVID-19 pandemic along with other parts of the country.

In the recently concluded state polls, the BJP won 20 seats, one short of the majority in the 40-member House. Three independent MLAs and two legislators of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) have extended support to the BJP.

Meanwhile, Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai has summoned a two-day session of the new Assembly from March 29 during which Sawant will have to seek a vote of confidence, officials earlier said. A new Speaker would also be elected during the session, which is expected to complete a range of legislative business, including passing of bills and a vote-on-account (an exercise to deal with short-term expenditure needs of government), they said. The Congress-led opposition has nominated MLA Aleixo Sequeira for the Speaker's post.

This would be the second time that Goa's chief minister will be sworn in outside the Raj Bhavan premises. In 2012, Manohar Parrikar had taken oath as the CM at Campal ground in the state capital Panaji after the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the House.

The BJP has so far been silent on the number of other cabinet ministers to be sworn in on Monday. When contacted, Sawant told PTI on Sunday morning that “You will come to know about it tomorrow (Monday). Right now, I don't know how many ministers would be sworn in." Besides chief minister, the Goa cabinet can have 11 more ministers.

"I thank you all for your continued support and I seek your blessings for continuing the all round development of the state," tweeted Pramod Sawant.

The swearing-in ceremony would be held at Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee stadium in Panaji at 11 am. More than 10,000 people are likely to attend the event at the stadium.  This would be the third consecutive government of the BJP in the coastal state.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP resident JP Nadda will attend the event in Panaji where Pramod Sawant will be sworn in as the Chief Minister.

Three-time MLA Pramod Sawant, who led the BJP to win 20 seats in the recently concluded elections to the 40-member Goa Assembly, will be sworn as the state's chief minister for the second time on Monday.