PANJIM: Even as Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is set to take oath for the second time on Monday morning, the suspense continues over the induction of ministerial colleagues in his Cabinet.
Till Sunday evening the potential Ministers were not intimated even as they are strong contenders for the Cabinet berths. It is learned that the official list of 11 ministers to be inducted will be released a few hours before the swearing-in ceremony starts, a formula which was adopted during the swearing-in ceremony of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh governments last week.
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The Chief Minister has kept names of his ministerial colleagues close to his chest and the potential ministers were also unaware whether they would get a berth. There are also reports that the Central BJP leadership will take a call on potential ministers on the basis of reports of observers C T Ravi and Devendra Fadnavis, even as the last-named met Governor Sreedharan Pillai at Raj Bhavan on Saturday evening.
The strong contenders for Cabinet berths are Subhash Shirodkar, Mauvin Godinho, Ravi Naik, Vishwajit Rane, Babush Monserrate, Rohan Khaunte, Nilesh Cabral, Nilkanth Halarnkar, Govind Gaude, Subhash Phaldesai, Sudin Dhavalikar of MGP, independents Alex Reginaldo Lourenco and Dr. Chandrakant Shetye.
Sanguem MLA Subhash Phadessai and the two independents Lourenco and Dr. Shetye if inducted will be the new faces in the Sawant government.
MGP leader Sudin Dhavalikar who has extended his support to the BJP was also clueless about his induction. He was not even called by the BJP leaders to either propose or second the name of MLA Ramesh Tawadkar for the Speaker’s post. Similar is the case of most of the aspirants seeking Cabinet berths.
Goa can have a maximum of 11 Cabinet Ministers.
Those who fail to get Cabinet berths will be allocated chairmanship of semi-government corporations
Meanwhile, all the MLAs have been asked to bring RT-PCR certificate and they have also been given five invitation cards each.
When asked about the potential ministers to be inducted in his cabinet, the Chief Minister, who was overseeing the ongoing preparations at the swearing in venue at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, said, “You will come to know tomorrow (Monday).
BJP State president Sadanand Shet Tanavade said that the Chief Minister and 11 Cabinet Ministers will be sworn-in on Monday. However, he said that potential ministers will be selected by the party’s central leadership and not at the local level.
