NEW DELHI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- India's defense minister and ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) senior leader Manohar Parrikar will be sworn-in as the chief minister of western Goa state on Tuesday, India's official broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) reported on Monday.

The broadcaster quoting sources said Parrikar has tendered his resignation as defence minister and sent the letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Office.

Parrikar told reporters in Goa's capital city Panaji that BJP president Amit Shah and federal ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari will attend his swearing-in ceremony.

On Sunday night, Parrikar approached Goa's governor Mridula Sinha and submitted him a letter of support from 21 legislators to stake claim for government formation. Sinha has subsequently invited Parrikar to form the next government in the coastal state.

Goa's lawmaking body has a strength of 40 legislators. In the recently-held elections, no party won the majority.

Congress emerged as the largest party with 17 seats but falls short of four sears to reach the magic mark of 21. BJP has won 13 seats and claims support of eight legislators from other parties and independents.

BJP's landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand has emboldened the party and strengthened its position in the country's political arena. With these victories, the BJP rules in more than a dozen of India's 29 states.

The 61-year-old Parrikar will return to Goa and take oath as the chief minister for the fourth time. He will have to get elected to the Goa legislature within six months. Before becoming the India's defense minister, he was chief minister of Goa.