Vishwajit Rane has been given the important portfolios of health and town and village planning, along with the urban development, women and child and forest departments.
Vishwajit Rane has been given the important portfolios of health and town and village planning, along with the urban development, women and child and forest departments.
The portfolios for nine ministers of the newly-formed Goa cabinet were on Sunday, with Chief Minister leader Pramod Sawant retaining important home and finance portfolios.
According to the notification issued by the General Administration Department, Dr. Sawant also kept the Vigilance, Official Language and Personnel departments with him.
BJP MLA from Valpoi, Vishwajit Rane, who is regarded as ‘No 2’ in the Goa BJP hierarchy, held the portfolios of Urban Development, Women and Child and Forest as well as the Health Department (a portfolio he also held in the former cabinet). retained.
Dr. Sawant along with eight other BJP MLAs took oath as ministers of the new cabinet on March 28 in the presence of party stalwarts including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Senior MLA from Dabolim, Mauvin Godinho, has been given the charge of transport and industry, while agriculture has been allotted to former chief minister Ravi Naik, who helped the BJP win the Ponda seat for the first time since 1963.
Nilesh Cabral has been allotted the important Public Works Department along with the Legislative Affairs, Environment and Law and Judiciary portfolios.
Panaji MLA Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate, who defeated rebel candidate Utpal Parrikar (late BJP chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s son), has been assigned the revenue, labor and waste management portfolios – the last was held by Michael Lobo. The previous BJP government under Dr. Sawant before Mr. Lobo joined the Congress.
While nine cabinet berths have been filled, three posts are vacant and are likely to be filled by non-BJP MLAs – three independents and two Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLAs – who extended their unconditional support to the BJP soon after the Goa assembly. . The results were declared on March 10.
four contenders
There are at least four contenders in the three berths, including MGP leader and seven-time MLA Sudin Dhavalikar, and three independents—Alexo Reginaldo Lourenco (Curtorim), Dr. Chandrakant Shete (Bicholim) and Antonio Vaas (Cortalim).
However, there is a lot of opposition to the inclusion of MGP in the cabinet, as the party fought the elections in alliance with the Trinamool Congress on the anti-BJP issue.
Also, winning the Ponda assembly seat (in South Goa) for the first time since 1963 (when the first Goa assembly elections were held) thanks to the inclusion of former Congressman and former chief minister Ravi Naik in the saffron party. In this year’s elections, many leaders from that belt in particular do not want to see Mr Dhavalikar being part of the cabinet.
This is because the MGP leader’s Markaim assembly constituency is very close to the Ponda area, which is considered a cause of conflict of influence by the BJP when it is taken over by the MGP.