Panaji: BJP’s youth leader and former Speaker of the state legislative assembly Pramod Sawant was sworn in as the new chief minister of Goa on Tuesday, two days after Manohar Parrikar passed away. 

The two-time MLA from Sankhalim in North Goa, Sawant, was sworn in at 2 am. 

Who is Sawant?

1. Sawant, other than being a dedicated RSS worker, is considered to be groomed by former CM Parrikar himself. During his oath-taking ceremony, he said that it was Parrikar who brought him into politics. Sawant also vowed to carry the former defence minister’s legacy forward. 

2. The 45-year-old BJP leader has a degree in Ayurvedic medicine from the Ganga Ayurvedic Medical College in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district. He has also completed his Masters in Social Welfare from the Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth. 

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3. In 2017, Sawant served as a speaker of the state legislative assembly. He was a part of BJP’s youth brigade and was very close to Parrikar. 

4. He won the 2012 and 2017 Assembly elections from North Goa's Sankhalim constituency, which used to be a Congress stronghold.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. He is a former chairman of the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation, a special purpose vehicle set up by Parrikar to take up various infrastructure works in the coastal state.

8. His wife Sulakshana heads the BJP Mahila Morcha in Goa.

With PTI inputs