Pramod Sawant sworn in as Goa Chief Minister

Goa Governor Mridula Sinha (R) administers the oath of the office to Pramod Sawant as the new Chief Minister of the state, at the Raj Bhavan in Panaji, Goa, on Tuesday, March 19, 2019

In a late-night ceremony, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and BJP leader Pramod Sawant was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Goa. In addition, 11 other leaders, including Sudhin Dhavalikar of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Vijay Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party, took oath as Cabinet ministers.

The oath was administered by Goa Governor Mridula Sinha at Raj Bhavan in the wee hours of Tuesday. The Chief Minister's post went vacant following the death of Manohar Parrikar on Sunday evening after a prolonged illness.

43-year-old Sawant represents Sanquelim assembly constituency. His wife, Sulakshana Sawant is the president of the women's wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Goa.

Goa Assembly has a strength of 40 members with four seats lying vacant due to deaths of two legislators, including Parrikar and resignation of two others. The by-polls on the three seats are scheduled to take place on April 23. BJP currently has 12 legislators and enjoys the support of legislators from GFP, MGP, and three independents. GFP and MGP each have three MLAs.

Congress, on the other hand, has 15 MLAs in the house and is also short of the majority mark without external support. However, it had also, for the third time in two days staked claim to form a government in Goa.

Parrikar cremated with state honours
Late Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was cremated with state honours, with thousands bidding him a fond farewell. BJP President Amit Shah, some Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states attended the funeral at Miramar.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates