Pramod Sawant, an ayurvedic doctor, takes charge in Goa after 2 am oath

india

Updated: Mar 19, 2019 09:12 IST

Pramod Sawant of the BJP who took oath as the 11th chief minister of Goa at 2 am in Panaji, represents the Sanquelim constituency in the Goa Legislative Assembly.

Sawant was elected leader of the BJP legislature party at a meeting held in the state capital soon after Manohar Parrikar was given a state funeral with full military honours on Monday.

BJP chief Amit Shah and Union minister Nitin Gadkari met the BJP legislators before the formal resolution was passed.

It also involved some hard bargaining with BJP’s ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) to ensure that Sawant will take over as the chief minister. MGP’s five-time lawmaker Sudin Dhavalikar had argued that as the senior most minister in the Parrikar cabinet, he was a natural successor to Parrikar.

Also read: Pramod Sawant to be Goa chief minister, elected leader of BJP legislature party

Sawant will have a tough task to hold the coalition together given that the allies had earlier insisted that they would remain in the government only as long as Parrikar was in charge.

The BJP had expected the allies to play hardball in the absence of Parrikar who had been widely seen as the glue that held the alliance together.

Born on April 24, 1973, Sawant was first elected to the legislative assembly in 2012 and retained his seat in 2017. An ayurvedic doctor by training, Sawant was a leader of the BJP’s youth wing.

Sawant was elected Speaker of the seventh Goa legislative assembly on March 22, 2017.

His wife Sulakshana is a chemistry teacher and a leader of the BJP Mahila Morcha.