Goa CM drops 2 ailing ministers

Panaji, September 24

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar carried out a Cabinet resuffle Monday, dropping two ailing ministers and inducting two new faces in the state where the political situation has been a matter of much speculation recently.

The development comes a day after BJP chief Amit Shah put to rest the speculation about continuance of Parrikar who is hospitalised in Delhi, saying the 62-year-old Chief Minister would remain in his post.

The Congress has been claiming that all is not well in the BJP-led coalition government in the state and has demanded a confidence vote in the Assembly.

Effecting the second reshuffle of his 18-month-old Cabinet, Parrikar dropped BJP ministers Francis D’Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar and inducted party MLAs Nilesh Cabral and Milind Naik.

Parrikar was not present at the swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers as he is admitted in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi because of a pancreatic ailment. D’Souza, who was minister for urban development, is admitted at a hospital in the US.

Madkaikar, who was the Power Minister, is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Mumbai since June after he suffered a brain stroke. — PTI

Ousted, MLA says not consulted

• Unhappy over his removal from the Cabinet, Francis D’Souza wondered if this was the reward given to him by the party for his 20-year-long loyalty
• An MLA of the Mapusa constituency in North Goa for the past two decades, D’Souza said he was not even taken into confidence before being dropped from the Cabinet