Guwahati: Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Pramod Sawant was sworn in as the chief minister of Goa for the second consecutive term on Monday after being unanimously elected as leader of the legislature party in the state.
The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Taleigao. Sawant also reviewed the preparations for the ceremony at the stadium on Saturday, news agency ANI reported.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP chief JP Nadda, and other Union Ministers and chief ministers of at least eight states were mong those invited for the event.
Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami were also present at the ceremony.
The recently concluded state Assembly poll saw the BJP win 20 seats in the 40-member state Assembly. The Indian National Congress (INC) won as many as 11 seats.
The saffron party emerged as the single largest party in Goa. However, the party fell one seat short of the majority figure in the state but is set to form the government with the help of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and independent candidates.
The BJP submitted letters of support from MGP MLAs and three Independents – Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, Dr Chandrakant Shetye and Antonio Vas – to Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai.
After receiving the letters, the Governor Pillai said that he is satisfied that 25 MLAs are supporting the claim of Dr Pramod Sawant.
Meanwhile, the governor has summoned a two-day session of the new Assembly from Tuesday during which Pramod Sawant, who was sworn in as chief minister on Monday, will have to seek a vote of confidence, according to a PTI report.
This will be the first full session of the Assembly for the current calendar year in which a new speaker will be elected. The session is expected to complete a range of legislative businesses, including passing of bills and a vote-on-account (an exercise to deal with short-term expenditure needs of government), as per official sources of the news agency.
