PANJIM: Newly appointed Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has emphasized to streamline the administration as he took charge of the office on Tuesday.
Addressing the media after assuming office, Sawant listed out his priorities for the State including solving the mining crisis.
“My priority will be to take control of the administration, to give good administration to the State. My next priority will be to complete all the projects started by (ex-CM) Manohar Parrikar, and the third thing, is ‘antodaya’ to work for the last person in the society. Every government scheme should reach out to them and automatically, there is development, there will be human development and infrastructural development,” he said.
The statement comes in the wake of a series of allegations by the Congress
and several quarters that the administration had collapsed after Parrikar had fallen ill.
Elected from the mining belt in Sanquelim, Sawant said his priority will also be to solve the mining crisis at the earliest.
The CM has confirmed that Ramkrishna Dhavalikar and Vijai Sardesai will be deputy chief ministers. “We will have two deputies CMs – Dhavalikar and Sardesai,” he said. On being asked whether the ‘one plus two formula’ (CM and two deputies) was to clean bowl the Congress, Sawant quipped stating, “if you feel, then yes”.
To another question, if running a coalition government would be challenging, Sawant recalled how his predecessor successfully ran the coalition government till his last breath.
“Parrikar ran (the coalition government) for two years, I will also be able to do so in the next three years,” he said. Sawant dared the Congress to move the Court as the opposition had been alleging Governor’s partiality in not inviting them to stake claim to form the government.
He also expressed confidence that BJP will win both Lok Sabha seats and the three by-polls in Shiroda, Mandrem and Mapusa. The date for Panjim by-polls has not been announced as the Chief Electoral Officer in Goa only on Tuesday informed the Election Commission of India about the seat falling vacant owing to the former CM’s death on Sunday.
