Goa CM rules out Cabinet reshuffle, says ‘focusing on assembly session’

Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday ruled out possibilities of the Cabinet reshuffle stating he is focusing on the Assembly session commencing from July 15.

“At present, we are only focusing on the Assembly session. The reshuffle will not take place at this time," the Chief Minister said.

He said that during the meeting, they discussed the functioning of the Assembly session and tabling various bills.

“This meeting was purely for preparation of the Assembly session,” the Chief Minister said.

He had held a meeting with ministers, BJP MLAs and other MLAs supporting his government. However, as three ministers left the meeting, there were speculations that they would be dropped from the cabinet.

Last week many BJP MLAs and ministers, including the Chief Minister met central leaders in Delhi.

Speculations of a cabinet reshuffle to accommodate Congress turncoats, along with Goa Legislative Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar are rife in the state after the latter had in June said that he is ready to take on any new responsibility the party allocates him.

Congress turncoat Digambar Kamat said that only the Chief Minister can speak about the Cabinet reshuffle.

There were also speculations that the Cabinet reshuffle will take place after Narendra Modi takes oath as Prime Minister for the third time.

In November 2023, Congress turncoat Aleixo Sequeira was sworn in as a minister after the then PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral resigned to make way for him. Since then, speculations of a Cabinet reshuffle to accommodate more Congress turncoats like former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, MLA Michael Lobo and MLA Sankalp Amonkar, along with senior BJP leader Ramesh Tawadkar have been rife.

Except for Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo, the BJP government has given key positions to six other defectors in various corporations, however, Sankalp Amonkar has not taken charge of his position as reportedly he was assured the Cabinet berth before joining the BJP.

On September 14, 2022, Aleixo Sequeira along with former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Kedar Naik, Sankalp Amonkar, Rajesh Faldesai and Rudolf Fernandes joined the BJP, reducing Congress to three MLAs in the 40-member Assembly House.