Pramod Sawant meets Governor; stakes claim to form govt in Goa

Goa caretaker Chief Minister Pramod Sawant along with the BJP leaders met Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai in the state and stake a claim to form the government after the BJP has unanimously elected Sawant to continue as the Chief Minister.

"We've submitted the letter of support by 25 MLAs - 20 BJP MLAs, three Independent MLAs & two Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLAs. Governor has given us permission to form Govt. We will announce the date of the swearing-in ceremony soon after discussing it with the central leadership," said Sawant after meeting the Governor.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central observer for Goa Narendra Singh Tomar stated that the party has unanimously elected Sawant to be the Chief Minister again.

"Vishwajit Rane proposed the name of Pramod Sawant as the Leader of the Legislative Party and everyone unanimously elected him as the Leader. He will be the Leader of the Legislative Party for the next 5 years," Tomar had said.

After being elected as the party leader, Sawant thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the opportunity to work as the CM of Goa for the next 5 years. "I am glad that the people of Goa have accepted me. I'll do everything possible to work for the development of the state," he said while talking to reporters.

Sawant also took to Twitter and said, "Profoundly grateful to the PM Shri @narendramodi ji, @BJP4India National President Shri @JPNadda Ji, Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah ji, BJP Gen. Sec (Org) Shri @blsanthosh ji, @BJP4Goa President Shri @ShetSadanand and all senior leaders for bestowing me with the responsibility to serve as the Leader of the BJP Legislature Party."

Earlier on Saturday, Sawant had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi to discuss government formation.

In the recently concluded state Assembly polls, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in Goa, winning 20 seats in the 40-member state Assembly and decimated Congress to 11 seats.

The BJP fell one seat short of the majority figure in Goa but is set to retain power in the state with the help of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and independent candidates.

( With inputs from ANI )

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