COVID did not allow Sawant government to go for major achievements in its first 3 years
According to the American economist Paul Krugman, “Politics determine who has the power, not who has the truth.” However in democratic politics, truth and honesty are the cornerstones of administration. Furthermore, political acumen of a politician is also important for democratic politics, especially modern day democratic politics; and it comes from the vast experience in the field. Generally speaking, if young politicians have tendency to break away from the traditional stereotype politics, then senior politicians have the competence to face troubled waters. There have been many politicians in the past, at the global level who displayed in them, the confluence of youth and experience. This presence of energy and maturity together made them a force to be reckoned with in their field.
The Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant today completes 50 years of his life, at least half of which have been dedicated to public service and politics. A former Ayurveda medical practitioner from a small hamlet in North Goa, his meteoric rise began when he started his political career by contesting the 2008 Pale constituency by-election as the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate. Even though he lost to Pratap Gauns fielded by the Congress party, Sawant did not lose his links with the BJP and continued his public work in the particular constituency. The huge BJP wave resulting from the strong anti-incumbency faced by the Congress party at the 2012 state assembly polls, saw Sawant contesting from the Sanquelim constituency and winning by securing 66.02% votes. As the Manohar Parrikar government came to power in the state in the summer of 2012, Sawant was made the spokesperson of the Goa unit of the BJP. He became the vice-chairman of the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation. When the BJP government came back to power in Goa in 2017 again headed by Manohar Parrikar, Sawant was promoted to the post of the Speaker of the state legislative assembly. Subsequently, Sawant replaced Parrikar as the Chief Minister of Goa, after the untimely demise of the latter in March 2019. The central leadership of the BJP found an appropriate replacement in Sawant, as the local cadre-based senior leaders of the party such as Laxmikant Parsekar and Rajendra Arlekar were no longer MLAs and the other senior party leader Francis D’Souza had passed away few months back.
Sawant took on the huge responsibility accompanied by bigger expectations, in the absence of Parrikar, the towering leader of the party. He had to fill in the quite large shoes left behind by Parrikar, as also prove himself in the line of illustrious predecessors like Dayanand Bandodkar as well as Pratapsingh Rane. The task became much difficult as within one year of becoming the Chief Minister, Goa, along with the rest of the world, faced a life-threatening pandemic in the form of COVID-19.
The pandemic did not allow Sawant government to go for major achievements in its first three years. The end of these three years coincided with the 2022 state assembly elections. The BJP led by Sawant won 20 seats as against its main rival, the Congress party winning 11. Sawant himself won this election with a wafer-thin margin. He however managed to retain his chief ministership.
The second innings of Sawant as the Chief Minister started on a more productive note. Major infrastructural projects in the state such as the international airport at Mopa and the second bridge on the River Zuari were completed. The state also successfully hosted the G20 meetings of international delegates. The BJP again repeated its feat by getting 8 Congress MLAs in its fold. However, Goa, during the year, saw its position as regards claiming the Mhadei waters becoming weak, besides witnessing many forest fires and increase in its crime/ road accident rate. Furthermore, the Smart City project being implemented in the capital city also turned into a fiasco. Sawant now needs to pull up the socks and try finding solutions to these problems. Although winning both Lok Sabha seats in Goa during the next year’s Parliamentary polls has become a priority for the BJP, the Chief Minister must look at other priorities of the state too. His will to perform should make Goa a model state. All good wishes for his success in the future!