Pramod Sawant to take oath as Goa's CM for second straight term

|HT|

Pramod Sawant will take oath as Goa's chief minister for a second straight term on Monday in a big ceremony that will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP won 20 of 40 seats in the coastal state, one of the smallest in the country. Pushkar Singh Dhami, who was recently sworn in as Uttarakhand's chief minister for a second term, is also expected to attend the event. Devendra Fadnavis, who is said to have played a key role in the state elections this time, will also be in attendance at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Taleigao. On Sunday, Sawant, 48, took a stock of the preparation. Home minister Amit Shah, who made his first visit to Punjab after the state polls, and BJP chief JP Nadda have also been invited to attend the oath event.

"The prime minister, home minister at least 15 chief ministers of different states will be arriving tomorrow for the swearing-in ceremony. Around 2,000 Goa Police personnel deployed, and special teams have arrived from outside. Coast Guards and Navy have been kept on alert," police officer Indradev Shukla said. Despite falling short of majority, the BJP is set to form the government with the help of the coastal state's oldest party - the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP)- which is often known to play the role of a kingmaker. The MGP had fought the state polls in alliance with Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.

Some independent MLAs have also backed the BJP.

Sawant's oath ceremony comes after several rounds of talks within the state party after the assembly elections. While the choice for Uttar Pradesh was clear in Yogi Adityanath, there were discussions for the top post in Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.

On Sunday, the BJP's Ramesh Tawadkar filed his nomination as the assembly speaker.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)