Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has preferred to keep mum on cabinet reshuffle part.
B L Santhosh landed at Dabolim Airport in the wee hours today morning. He however proceeded to Hubali, Karnataka from Goa.
When queried over the national leaders visit and cabinet reshuffle, CM Pramod Sawant said Santhosh has already left Goa but preferred to keep mum on cabinet reshuffle part.
Sawant is likely to drop two to three ministers to accommodate the new additions to the party.
A senior BJP leader said Congress veteran Aleixo Sequeira, who had been a minister in two previous Congress governments including the one led by Digmabar Kamat, would be the only person to be inducted immediately.
Presently, the cabinet comprises 11 BJP ministers, including the chief minister, and one from MGP. Sequeira, 65, has always contested assembly elections on a Congress ticket.
He first contested in 1994 from Loutolim constituency.
He even won unopposed in 1999. He lost his first assembly election in 2012 but returned to the assembly by winning the 2022 election. Sequeira had a good equation with former chief minister Manohar Parrikar
On September 14, eight Congress MLAs defected to BJP by merging the Congress legislative wing into the saffron fold. There were rumours of possible cabinet berths for two-three newly joint MLAs.
MLAs — Digambar Kamat, Rajesh Faldesai, Aleixo Sequeira, Michael Lobo, Delilah, Sankalp Amonkar, Kedar Naik and Rudolf Fernandes joined BJP last month.
