New Goa CM Pramod Sawant vows to carry forward Manohar Parrikar’s development legacy

Pramod Sawant, newly sworn in as Goa’s Chief Minister, said he would carry forward the legacy of his predecessor Manohar Parrikar, acknowledging that he faced a big responsibility. Mr Parrikar, diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in February the previous year, died on Sunday evening.

A tense transition

Uncertainty gripped the state on Monday after the BJP leadership’s choice of Mr Sawant, then Speaker of the Assembly, was not immediately accepted by allies the MGP and the Goa Forward Party, a BJP leader said. The talks over the succession stretched beyond 24 hours and exposed rifts in the coalition, which are likely to test the relatively inexperienced new chief minister.

The MGP’s Sudin Dhavalikar and the GFP’s Vijai Sardesai were sworn in and given the post of deputy chief minister. Other members of the Parrikar cabinet, including Manohar Ajgaonkar, Rohan Khaunte, Govind Gaude, Vinoda Palancar, Jayesh Salgaocar, Mauvin Godinho, Vishwajit Rane, Milind Naik and Nilesh Cabral, were reinducted, with portfolios to be allocated within eight days.

Sawant’s priorities

The 45-year-old said he would focus on human and infrastructure development and would work on the principle of Antyodaya, aiming to reach the last person in society. He called Mr Parrikar a visionary leader. Asked about mining, a key issue in his Sanquelim constituency, he said he could not answer every question yet.

Mr Sawant, an Ayurveda practitioner, rose through the BJP’s youth wing, heading its Goa unit as recently as seven years ago while serving as national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. His wife Sulakshana Sawant, who heads the state BJP women’s wing, said the family felt mixed emotions. He faces three by-elections on which his government depends, as well as the Lok Sabha polls.

What happened next

Mr Sawant was again Chief Minister after the 2022 Goa Assembly election, in which the BJP won 20 seats and the Congress 11.

See also: Goa Vidhan Sabha members.

Originally published on 19 March 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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