Panaji, Sep 30 (IANS): Goa assembly Speaker Rajendra Arlekar will be inducted into the state cabinet, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters late on Tuesday evening after a meeting of party legislators at a city hotel, Parsekar said that Arlekar, who was last year tipped to be chief minister following the elevation of Manohar Parrikar as defence minister, would be sworn as minister on Thursday evening.
"Deputy Speaker Anant Shet will be elevated as speaker in Arlekar's place, while our MLA (legislator) Vishnu Wagh will take over as deputy speaker," he added.
A berth in the 12-member cabinet of the BJP-led coalition government had fallen vacant earlier this year, following the sentencing of former archives and archaeology minister Francisco Pacheco to six months of imprisonment in connection with a 2009 assault case.