By Marcellus D’Souza

Apr 4: Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant has announced the allocation of portfolio’s of his cabinet on Sunday. This announcement was to be made today. but it was advanced through a notification issued by Under Secretary General Administration, Shripad Arlekar.

While, the CM has kept many portfolios to himself including Home, Revenue, Personnel, Vigilance and Official Language, the allocation to the other ministers is along expected lines.

Vishwajit P. Rane retains the important portfolio of Health. This means he will be retained in the same portfolio that he has held since his stint in the Digambar Kamat -led government from June 2007 to March 2012. As Health Minister in the third Manohar Parrikar Ministry, Rane took the decision of charging nominal fees in the Goa Medical College, Hospicio Hospital and the Asilo Hospital for the patients who are not residents of the state of Goa since 1 January 2018.

He served in the portfolio of Health, in the preceding government of Pramod Sawant. This shows his clout making him virtually the No 2 in the Cabinet which was sworn in on 6 days ago.

In addition Vishwajit Rane has been allocated Urban Development, Town & Country Planning, Women & Child and Forest departments.
Ravi Naik from Ponda has been allocated Agriculture, Handicrafts and Civil Supplies, while Mauvin Godinho has been allocated Transport, Industries, Panchayat and Protocol.

Nilesh Cabral, who had held the prestigious power portfolio in the preceding government of Pramod Sawant and had clashed with AAP on tariff bills, has lost the portfolio. He has been allocated Legislative Affairs, Environment, Law & Judiciary and PWD. The portfolio of ‘Environment’ is seen as being vital with the ongoing ‘developmental’ projects undertaken by the Sawant government and which have to be completed by the General Elections slated for 2024.
The number of ministers permitted under the law in a 40-member house is 12.

In a late night development, it was announced that Atanasio Monserrate who won the Panaji constituency was accommodated in the cabinet. Monserrate had defeated Utpal Parrikar, son of former chief minister and defence minister Manohar Parrikar in the recently held elections to the state legislature assembly. He is the MLA who has declared the highest total assets worth Rs 48.48 crore.

That leaves 3 ministerial slots open. Will it be Jit Vinayak Arolkar (MGP) who could be accommodated at a junior position or Reginado Lourence, who was shunted out of the Congress and refused readmission into the party fold when he resigned and joined the TMC and whose support is critical to the Pramod Sawant government tipped for an important portfolio.

Sudin Dhavalikar may be kept out of the cabinet and not offered a berth, say observers. The protests against the MGP support being accepted has not yet died down, even though Ravi Naik and Vishwajit Rane, have been accommodated in the government and allocated plump portfolios. Dhavalikar will not settle for any post lower than that Deputy Chief Minister, which he has held earlier. He is a six-term member of the Goa Legislative Assembly and represents the Marcaim constituency.

Bardez, which is has the highest number of assembly constituencies has already three MLAs representatives from the region in the cabinet. Will the inclusion of Sudin Dhavalikar tilt the balance and make the cabinet too Bardez heavy.

Even though the portfolios have been announced, the chief minister said he will require another week to finalise cabinet expansion and portfolio allocation. Pramod Sawant will be meeting MLAs and ministers to assertion the plans for the future. In a tweet, he said: I shall be meeting all ministers one by one in the next 8 days to discuss plans, central schemes and how to handle pending issues”. “All my ministers who are in the cabinet before are experienced”, he added. This delay has allowed punters to continue to place bets on various scenarios, combinations and permutations.

The support extended by Cortalim MLA, Antonio Vas cannot be under estimated. He comes to the fore without any criminal records. This is besides the fact that 44 per cent of the newly sworn-in ministers in Goa have declared criminal cases against themselves, out of which three have serious charges filed against them, according to poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The Salsette does not have a representative in the cabinet. The name of Ulhas Tuenkar of Navelim is doing the rounds. Tuemkar turned out to be a dark horse in Navelim constituency and defeated his nearest rival TMC’s Valanka Alemao by 430 votes.

Tuenkar’s victory has fuelled demands for a ministerial berth by loyal grassroots Karakarthas. Will he be accommodated is the question being asked and is not the last piece in the jigsaw of Goan politics.