Pramod Sawant takes oath as Goa CM for second term, PM Modi, other BJP leaders attend ceremony

New Delhi: Three-time MLA Pramod Sawant was on Monday (March 28, 2022) sworn as Goa's chief minister for the second consecutive term in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai administered the oath to Sawant in a ceremony that was held at Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee stadium near the state capital Panaji.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP national president JP Nadda, Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Maharashtra's former chief minister Devendra Fadanavis were among those who attended the event.

This, notably, was the second time that Goa's chief minister has taken an oath outside the Raj Bhavan premises. Earlier in 2012, Manohar Parrikar was sworn in as the CM at Campal ground in Panaji after the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the House.

Who is Pramod Sawant?

Pramod Sawant, 48, is an Ayurveda medical practitioner and is a three-time MLA from the Sankhalim assembly constituency in the North Goa district. Sawant became Speaker of the state Assembly when the BJP formed government under the leadership of Manohar Parrikar in 2017. He took over as chief minister after Parrikar's death in March 2019.

Sawant started out as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member and has been seen participating in the Sangh's annual `Sanchalan' program even while being chief minister.

His career in electoral politics began in 2008 when he was given a BJP ticket from Sankhalim (then Pale) assembly segment, but he lost to Congress candidate Pratap Gauns. He won the seat in 2012 and got reelected in 2017 from the same seat.

His wife Sulakshana is also an active BJP worker and has held prominent posts in the party's women wing in the state. 

In the recently concluded Goa Assembly polls, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party, winning 20 seats in the 40-member state Assembly and reducing Congress to 11 seats. The BJP, however, fell one seat short of the majority figure but retained power in the state after three independent MLAs and two legislators of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) extended support.

(With agency inputs)