Mr Manohar Parrikar, who spearheaded the BJP’s emphatic win in the Assembly polls with a majority of its own for the first time, on Friday took oath as chief minister of Goa at the head of a six-member coalition government.
Four BJP legislators — Dayanand Mandrekar, Laxmikant Parsekar, Matanhy Saldana and Francis D’Souza — along with the BJP’s pre-poll Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party’s Ramakrishna Dhavalikar, were also sworn in.
For the first time in the history of Goa, the swearing-in was held in an open ground instead of at Raj Bhavan. Goa governor K. Sankaranarayanan administered the oath. BJP president Nitin Gadkari, senior leaders L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Ravi Shankar Prasad, M. Venkaiah Naidu and Rajiv Pratap Rudy were also present. For the first time, the BJP secured majority on its own in the 40-member Assembly with 21 members in the recent elections.