Goa Assembly’s erstwhile Speaker Pramod Sawant was sworn in as the state’s chief minister in the early hours of Tuesday. He succeeds Manohar Parrikar who died on Sunday at the age of 63 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Mr Sawant and his cabinet of 11 ministers took the oath after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got letters of support from its allies on the assurance that both Goa Forward Party president Vijay Sardesai and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party leader Sudin Dhavalikar would be made deputy chief ministers.

Moving swiftly to snuff out Congress attempts to wrest power in Goa, the BJP Bharatiya chose Mr Sawant, 45, for the chief minister’s office. He resigned from the Speaker’s post to take up his new position. His team of ministers were also part of the former chief minister’s cabinet.

The Goa Assembly currently has 36 members – 12 belong to the BJP, three each to its allies Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtra Gomantak Party, three are independents, and 14 belong to the Congress. Four seats are vacant.