BJP’s Pramod Sawant will be sworn in the new chief minister of Goa Monday, party sources said. The swearing in ceremony will take place at 11 pm, an official said here.
He will succeed Manohar Parrikar, who died Sunday after battling pancreatic cancer. He was cremated with state honours here Monday evening. Sawant is now Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly. As per the power-sharing arrangement reached with allies, an MLA each from two small parties backing BJP in the coastal state will be made deputy chief minister, party sources said.
They are Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar. Earlier in the day, Nitin Gadkari had said the CM will be from BJP for sure. He had also said that he will leave for Delhi at 6 pm and it will be better if the decision is taken before that.
Reports of the name being finalised came in even as Manohar Parrikar’s sons lit the funeral pyre in the presence of several top BJP leaders in Panjim. Manohar Parrikar was given full state honours at the funeral ceremony on Monday evening.
With Parrikar’s demise on March 17, Sunday, Goa slipped into a fresh political crisis. The coastal state had seen the political heat rising over the past few months. As Deputy CM Francis D’Souza passed away in February.
