Pramod Sawant to be Goa Chief Minister for another term

Dr. Pramod Sawant is set to retain the post of Goa Chief Minister. A decision to this effect was taken after Dr. Sawant’s name was unanimously decided as the BJP legislature party chief on Monday evening.

At a BJP legislature party meeting in Panaji, all the 20 party MLAs gathered and met. Central party observers, Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and L Murugan, participated in the meeting along with former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, party general secretary CT Ravi and Goa BJP president Sadanand Sheth Tanavade.

Ending an 11-day period of uncertainty since the BJP emerged as the single largest party with 20 seats and the support of 3 independents and 2 MLAs of the MGP, speculation was rife of the BJP being unsure of continuing with Dr. Sawant as the chief minister.

That was, however, laid to rest with Vishwajit Rane, himself a challenger to the CM’s post, proposing Dr. Sawant’s name for the top job.

This was seconded by Ponda MLA and former chief minister Ravi Naik and Dabolim MLA Mauvin Godinho, Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral, and others, making up for MLAs from both north and south Goa.

Sawant, 47, who is a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer, has been a two-term MLA from Sanquelim constituency. He comes from one of the key regions in the North Goa mining belt. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Ayurvedic Medicine from the Ganga Ayurvedic Medical College in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district and has practiced as a doctor of alternative medicine in the state.

Dr. Sawant has also completed his Masters in Social Welfare from the Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, a deemed university in Pune.

Dr. Sawant's name was declared after a meeting that lasted about 2 hours where MLAs were consulted on a one-on-one basis before the name was revealed to the MLAs gathered by Narendra Singh Tomar.

“My government will work on a ‘Nav Bharat, Nav Goa’ platform. My government will focus on the human development of people, along with ensuring zero corruption. We will strive to provide transparent and good governance through our Swayampurana Goa 2.0 programme,” Dr. Sawant said after being declared as the next chief minister.

Dr. Sawant said that he along with 3 independents and two MGP MLAs are meeting the Goa governor later tonight to stake a claim to form the government. The 3 independents – Bicholim MLA, Dr. Chandrakant Shetye, Curtorim MLA Alexio Reginald Lourenco, and Cortalim MLA Antonio Vas – along with 2 MGP MLAs Sudin Dhavlikar and Jeet Arolkar, have already gathered in a hotel close to the Raj Bhavan and are expected to hold meetings with the BJP leadership before heading to meet the Governor.

Reports emerging from the BJP state headquarters indicated that the new government led by Dr. Sawant will be formed in two parts. Six MLAs will take oath along with the chief minister while the remaining six (Goa can have a total of 12 ministers) will be sworn in later.

Two independents, Dr. Shetye and Lourenco, along with Dhavlikar from the MGP, are expected to be inducted in round one along with two ministers from the BJP. The two BJP names being speculated upon are Rane and Godinho, both senior ministers in the last cabinet.