Pramod Sawant’s journey from being an Ayurveda practitioner to Goa’s helm

Pramod Sawant’s journey from being an Ayurveda practitioner to Goa’s helm

From being an ayurveda practitioner to being the Goa chief minister, 46-year-old Pramod Sawant has come a long way. The two-time MLA from Sankhalim in North Goa, Sawant, who was Speaker of the state Assembly, is a dedicated RSS worker.

The politician, recently seen in the RSS uniform at a Sangh event, was on Monday sworn in as the new chief minister of Goa following Manohar Parrikar’s death. His elevation to the top post in the coastal state followed hectic parleys between the BJP and its alliance partners.

Pramod Sawant‘s political career began in the BJP as a youth leader. A staunch Parrikar supporter, he had worked closely with the late leader. He won the 2012 and 2017 Assembly elections from North Goa’s Sankhalim constituency, which used to be a Congress stronghold.

He was among the few BJP MLAs who got re-elected in their constituencies during the state polls two years ago, when the party managed to win only 13 seats as compared to t 21 in the 2012 elections. 

When Parrikar cobbled up an alliance with the Goa Forward Party, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Independents in 2017 despite the Congress being the single largest party, Sawant was elected the Assembly Speaker..

Goa gets a new CM in the wee hours; BJP’s Pramod Sawant takes oath

The Governor also administered oath to 11 other ministers, including those from BJP’s allies MGP and the GFP

Politics News: BJP MLA Pramod Sawant was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Goa just before 2 am Tuesday, capping a day of hectic parleys between the saffron party and its allies to put a new government in place in the state.

After multiple postponements of the oath ceremony on Monday, the day when his predecessor Manohar Parrikar was cremated with state honours, Pramod Sawant was sworn in by Goa governor Mridula Sinha at Raj Bhavan at 1.50 am. Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 46-year-old legislator from Sankhalim in North Goa. 

The Governor also administered oath to 11 other ministers, including those from BJP’s allies MGP and the GFP. Interestingly, all the ministers who were part of erstwhile Manohar Parrikar-led Cabinet were sworn in by the Governor.

MGP’s two MLAs Sudin Dhavalikar and Manohar Ajgaonkar were sworn-in, while Goa Forward party MLAs Vijai Sardesai, Vinod Palekar and Jayesh Salgaonkar also took oath. BJP MLAs Mauvin Godinho, Vishwajit Rane, Milind Naik and Nilesh Cabral also found a place in the Sawant-led Cabinet. Independent MLAs Rohan Khaunte and Govind Gawade were also sworn in by Governor..