PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday ducked questions on a possible cabinet rejig in the face of a visit of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) national general secretary B L Santosh sparking speculation of changes in the government.
Asked repeatedly by the media if there are any major changes in store in Goa, Sawant preferred to not respond and sidestep the issue.
Santosh who is the BJP’s general secretary in-charge of organisation, meanwhile had arrived in Goa on Tuesday, but Sawant said it was a stopover on his way to Karnataka.
Santosh however set speculation over the much talked of cabinet reshuffle soaring with “It will happen. Don’t worry about it” quip.
When some reporters asked him of a possible reshuffle of the cabinet to accommodate some of the MLAs who defected from the Congress to the BJP last year, Santosh quipped in Hindi: “Sab hoga, Chinta mat karo.”
There has been speculation of a change in Sawant’s team since September last, when eight of the eleven Congress MLAs switched to the saffron camp. Of the eight, five legislators -- Sankalp Amonkar, Kedar Naik, Rajesh Phaldesai, Delilah Lobo and Rudolf Fernandes -- have already been rewarded with a position on State-owned corporations.
Three other senior leaders -- Digambar Kamat, Aleixo Sequeira and Michael Lobo -- are yet to be given any responsibility, which lent further impetus to reports that they will be accommodated with berths in the ministry.
Government sources, however, say the cabinet rejig is now very likely to take place soon, although Sawant is saddled with the tough question of who among his current team should be shown the door to accommodate the trio.
