Hours After Quitting MGP, Pawaskar Inducted in Goa Cabinet

Pawaskar and another MGP MLA, Manohar Ajgaonkar, quit the regional party and joined the BJP  on Wednesday

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Goa News Hub)

Hours after quitting the MGP and joining the BJP in Goa, legislator Dipak Pawaskar was formally inducted into the state Cabinet here Wednesday night.

Pawaskar and another Maharahstrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLA, Manohar Ajgaonkar, quit the regional party and joined the BJP in the early hours of Wednesday.

After splitting from the parent party, the two MLAs formed their own legislature wing and merged it with the BJP. The MGP is now left with only one MLA -- Sudin Dhavalikar.

Goa Governor Mridula Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to Pawaskar at a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan here at around 11.35 pm.

Talking to reporters after the swearing-in ceremony, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said he will allot portfolio to Pawaskar Thursday.

Pawaskar was inducted into the Cabinet after Sawant dropped Deputy Chief Minister and MGP MLA Sudin Dhavalikar from his team earlier in the day.

Ajgaonkar is the state tourism minister.

Pawaskar, a first-time MLA from the Sanvordem assembly constituency in South Goa, is currently Chairman of state-run Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation.

Ministers Skip Oath Taking Ceremony

Meanwhile, several ministers, including those from the BJP, in Goa did not attend the swearing-in ceremony of Dipak Pawaskar.

Except for ministers Nilesh Cabral, Govind Gawade and Ajgaonkar, nobody else from the Goa Cabinet was present at the swearing-in ceremony of Pawaskar.

Gawade an Independent legislator is culture minister, while BJP leader Cabral holds the law portfolio. Ajgaonkar is tourism minister in the Goa government.

Legislators and members of BJP ally Goa Forward Party, two other Independent MLAs, who support the Sawant government, and a majority of BJP ministers did not attend the ceremony.

Pawaskar and Ajgaonkar after splitting from the MGP, formed their own legislature wing and merged it with the BJP.

Dhavalikar's portfolios of transport and public works will now be looked after by Chief Minister Sawant.

Earlier Wednesday, Goa Forward Party (GFP) President and Deputy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai had demanded that the chief minister should specify the future political roadmap of the current government.

“If this (defection from coalition partners) continues, then we will lose sympathy and it will create suspicion among coalition partners. Such incidents in future will result in lack of public goodwill,” Sardesai said.

Putting the ball in Sawant's court, Sardesai said, "The CM heads this (government) and he knows the contours of his alliance. I think he will very soon clarify on the future political road map of this coalition government.".