Manohar Parrikar takes oath as Goa chief minister

Manohar Parrikar, who spearheaded Bharatiya Janata Party's emphatic win in assembly polls with majority of its own for the first time, today took oath as chief minister of Goa at the head of a 6-member coalition government.

Four BJP legislators Dayanand Mandrekar, Laxmikant Parsekar, Matanhy Saldana and Francis D'souza along with 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 the 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, BJP on its own secured majority in the 40-member Assembly with 21 members in recent elections.

The BJP-led alliance, with the support of 26 legislators--three from MGP and two independents--had staked claim to form the government on March 6 after it swept the assembly polls, toppling the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party.