Pramod Sawant will take the oath of office as Goa’s chief minister on March 28, with Prime Minister Modi in attendance

*Paromita Das

Pramod Sawant will take the oath of office as Goa’s chief minister on March 28. The ceremony will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP announced on Monday that Sawant would be reelected as Goa’s chief minister for a second term. He was unanimously elected as the party’s leader in the legislature. Soon after Sawant, a three-time BJP MLA, was elected as the legislature party’s leader in Goa, the saffron party staked a claim to form the new government with the support of two Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLAs and three Independent legislators for a third consecutive term.

The BJP won 20 Assembly seats in the recently concluded Goa election 2022, falling just one seat short of a majority of 21.

After two MGP legislators and three Independent MLAs – Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, Dr Chandrakant Shetye, and Antonio Vas – extended support to the BJP, the saffron party staked claim to form the next government in the coastal state. Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai said, while inviting Sawant to form the next Goa government, “I am satisfied that Dr. Pramod Sawant’s claim has the support of 25 MLAs. As a result, I hereby invite you to be appointed as Goa’s chief minister. After the oath is administered, you will take office.”

The main opposition party, the Congress, won 11 Assembly seats in the Goa elections, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won two and the Revolutionary Goans Party and Goa Forward Party each won one.