PANAJI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, several other Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled States were among the bigwigs who showered birthday wishes on Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday.
"Birthday greetings to Goa CM @DrPramodPSawant Ji. He is at the forefront of many good governance initiatives to transform Goa. May he lead a long and healthy life" the Prime Minister tweeted early Sunday morning.
Shah in a tweet said: "Birthday greetings to the Chief Minister of Goa @DrPramodPSawant Ji. Your relentless efforts towards the welfare of the people and the development of Goa are truly commendable. May God bless you with a long and healthy life."
Sawant has been riding high on the back of an unexpectedly favourable electoral mandate in the recently held Goa assembly elections overcoming a strong anti-incumbency sentiment.
He had taken over the reins in Goa following the death of former chief minister Manohar Parrikar in 2019 and led the BJP to win 20 of the 40 assembly seats despite strong anti-incumbency.
Following the elections, Sawant staved of a stiff challenge in the chief ministerial race from his health minister in the previous term Vishwajit Rane and was sworn-in Chief Minister again.
BJP Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Tripura also took to Twitter to wish Sawant.
Union Minister Shirpad Naik and Himachal Pradesh Governor, Rajendra Arlekar, also wished Sawant as did Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Prahlad Joshi, Anurag Thakur and Dr Mansukh Mandaviya among others.
