PANAJI
A galaxy of political leaders led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of several States are expected to be present at the grand swearing-in ceremony of Pramod Sawant as chief minister, which is being planned at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium on March 28 at 11 am.
Besides Sawant, 5-6 BJP MLAs are likely take oath along with MGP leader Sudin Dhavalikar and Independent MLAs Alexio Reginaldo Lourenco and Dr Chandrakant Shetye.
There will be a number of ‘firsts’ in the swearing-in ceremony of the new State government.
This is for the first time in the State’s history that the ceremony will take place at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium. Normally, swearing-in ceremonies take place at the Raj Bhavan and the only exception was when late Manohar Parrikar was sworn-in as chief minister at Campal stadium in 2012.
It is also for the first time that the prime minister of India will attend the swearing-in ceremony of the chief minister of Goa, as only central ministers have attended such swearing-in ceremonies in the past.
BJP State President Sadanand Shet Tanavade said the dates have been confirmed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President J P Nadda.
“Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Himachal Pradesh CM Jayram Thakur, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Assam CM Hemanta Biswa, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel and Nagaland Deputy CM Yanthungo Patton will attend the ceremony,” said Tanavade.
The chief ministers of Uttarakhand, Manipur and Uttar Pradesh are also likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony, he added.
“However, whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi decides to address the gathering or not is yet to be decided,” said Tanavade.
A massive crowd of BJP supporters is anticipated at stadium which has a capacity to accommodate around 25,000 people.
The BJP has already geared up its machinery to ensure that supporters in large numbers are transported to the stadium on that day.
Sawant on Monday had submitted a letter to Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai staking claim to form the government with the support of 25 MLAs and the governor had invited Sawant to form the new government.
The BJP, which won 20 seats in the 40-member Assembly, has the support of two MLAs of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and three independent legislators.
