Pramod Sawant
Birth date24 April 1973 (age 53)
Birth namePramod Pandurang Sawant
Birth placePali-Kothambi, Goa, India
OfficeChief Minister of Goa
Order11th
Subterm'
Term start19 March 2019
PredecessorManohar Parrikar
GovernorMridula Sinha
Satya Pal Malik
Bhagat Singh Koshyari
P. S. Sreedharan Pillai
Ashok Gajapathi Raju
DeputySudin Dhavalikar
Vijai Sardesai
Manohar Ajgaonkar
Chandrakant Kavlekar
Office 3Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly
Term start 322 March 2017
Term end 318 March 2019
Predecessor 3Anant Shet
Successor 3Rajesh Patnekar
Office 2Member of Goa Legislative Assembly
Term start 28 March 2012
Predecessor 2Pratap Prabhakar Gauns
Constituency 2Sanquelim
Office 1Leader of the House in Goa Legislative Assembly
Term start 119 March 2019
Predecessor 1Manohar Parrikar
PartyBharatiya Janata Party (since 2008)
Alma materTilak Maharashtra University (MSW)
SpouseSulakshana Sawant (m. 2005)
OccupationPolitician

Pramod Pandurang Sawant (born 24 April 1973) is an Indian politician and former ayurveda medical practitioner[1] who has served as the 11th chief minister of Goa since March 2019.[2] He represents the Sanquelim constituency in the Goa Legislative Assembly as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party since 2012.[3]

Early life and education

Pramod Pandurang Sawant was born on 24 April 1973 in Pali-Kothambi, Goa, to Pandurang Sawant.[4][5] He obtained a Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery degree from the Ganga Education Society's Ayurvedic Medical College in Kolhapur and a postgraduate degree of Master of Social Work from the Tilak Maharashtra University at Pune.[6]

Political career

Sawant started his electoral career when he contested the 2008 Pale Constituency by-election on the Bharatiya Janata Party ticket and lost to Pratap Prabhakar Gauns of the Indian National Congress.[7] The Pale constituency was abolished due to the delimitation of assembly constituencies.[citation needed]

He contested the 2012 assembly election from the newly formed Sanquelim constituency and won with 14,255 votes, securing 66.02% of the vote share and defeating Gauns of the Indian National Congress. He also served as the spokesperson of the Goa unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party for a brief period of time.[8]

In the 2017 election, Sawantas re-elected from Sanquelim, defeating Dharmesh Saglani of the Indian National Congress with 10,058 votes (43.04%). On 22 March 2017, he was elected as the Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly.[9][10]

He secured a third consecutive victory in the 2022 assembly election from Sanquelim, again defeating Saglani again. However, the contest was much tighter than previous years — Sawant won by a narrow margin of just 666 votes, receiving 12,250 votes (47.73%) against Saglani’s 11,584 votes (45.13%).[11][12]

Chief Minister of Goa

After the death of Manohar Parrikar, the seat of the Chief Minister of Goa fell vacant. Sawant was elected by the Legislative Assembly and later he was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Goa on 19 March 2019.[13][14][15]

Personal life

Sawant is a Maratha by caste.[13] On 28 May 2005, he married Reshma Santosh Sawant Maratha by caste,after marriage renamed as Sulakshana Sawant,[16] a teacher of chemistry[17] at the Shri Shantadurga Higher Secondary School in Bicholim. She is also a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and currently the President[18] of the Goa unit of the BJP Mahila Morcha.[19][20] The couple has a daughter, Parthivi, born in 2006.[21] Sawant has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since his youth.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ Developer, Web. "My first salary was Rs 4,000, spent Rs 3,000 on petrol: Pramod Sawant". Mid-day. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
  2. ^ Gupta, Saurabh (19 March 2019). "Pramod Sawant, Goa's New Chief Minister, Is An Ayurveda Practitioner". NDTV
  3. ^ "Member of Legislative Assembly | Goa Legislative Assembly". Archived from the original on 2017-07-24. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  4. ^ "Dr. Pramod Sawant profile". Government of Goa. Archived 2026-05-13 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-05-29.
  5. ^ "My family not new to being called 'outsider': Goa CM Pramod Sawant's father". The New Indian Express. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  6. ^ "Pramod Pandurang Sawant(Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)):Constituency- SANQUELIM(NORTH GOA) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info
  7. ^ "Goa Vidhansabha Member Profile". goavidhansabha.gov.in. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021. "Development work of Shri Pratap Gauns". heraldgoa.in
  8. ^ "Wives of 2 MLAs get prominent positions in BJP's new Executive". goanews.com. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  9. ^ Prakash Kamat (22 March 2017). "Pramod Sawant elected as Speaker of Goa Assembly". thehindu.com. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  10. ^ The Indian Express (23 March 2017). "BJP's Pramod Sawant elected Goa Speaker". Archived 11 May 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Goa General Legislative Election 2022". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  12. ^ "General Elections 2022 to Goa Legislative Assembly - AC wise Voter Turnout". Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  13. ^ "From Ayurveda [sic] to Goa CM: All you need to know about Pramod Sawant". India Today. March 19, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  14. ^ "जानिए गोवा के नए CM प्रमोद सावंत के बारे में 5 बड़ी बातें" (in Hindi). Economic Times. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  15. ^ "प्रमोद सावंत बने गोवा के नए CM, दो उप-मुख्यमंत्रियों ने भी ली शपथ" (in Hindi). Hindustan. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  16. ^ "Wives of 2 MLAs get prominent positions in BJP's new Executive"
  17. ^ "Pramod Sawant: 10 Interesting facts about CM of Goa". Jagranjosh.com. March 19, 2019.
  18. ^ "BJP women's wing demands 33% seats". oHeraldo
  19. ^ "BJP Mahila Morcha chief: No woman eligible to be candidate". The Times of India
  20. ^ "BJP Mahila eyes Porvorim seat in 2017 Assembly polls". The Goan
  21. ^ Da Gama, Danuska (2019-11-03). "Feet rooted on the ground". The Navhind Times. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  22. ^ Chandola, Mohini (2022-03-21). "RSS Worker, Ayurvedic Practitioner & Now Goa's 14th CM: Who Is Pramod Sawant?". TheQuint. Retrieved 2026-03-01.