PANAJI
The Cabinet expansion in the Council of Ministers of the State government will take place on Saturday noon, with MGP leader Sudin Dhavalikar and two BJP MLAs, Nilkanth Halarnkar and Subhash Phaldessai, set to be sworn-in as ministers.
The swearing-in ceremony has been scheduled in the Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan at 12 noon on Saturday.
Although there has been no official announcement on who will be inducted as minister in the last three berths available, Dhavalikar, Halarnkar and Phaldessai are among the frontrunners.
Sources confirmed that Independent MLAs will not be included in the Cabinet, even though they had pledged their support to the State government.
Having secured a comfortable majority with 20 BJP MLAs, 3 Independent MLAs and 2 MGP MLAs, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and eight ministers were sworn-in during the first round on March 28 at a grand ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, central BJP Leaders and chief ministers of a number of States.
Dhavalikar’s expected induction as minister will see him back in the Cabinet after a gap of three years during his 23-year tenure as legislator.
Dhavalikar, who has been a minister under different governments for two decades, has traditionally been given the plum portfolio of PWD, except during the one tenure under Digambar Kamat as chief minister. This time though, he is expected to get the power portfolio.
Halarnkar had been the tourism minister in the Congress government led by Kamat, while Phaldessai will be inducted as minister for the first time.
Incidentally, Phaldessai will be expected to resign as deputy speaker before he is inducted as minister.
