Virtually the strongmen in Parrikar’s regime, both Vijai Sardesai and Sudin Dhavalikar, have had a rather abrupt fall from power following the former chief minister’s death.
Although the duo did make it to the Pramod Sawant cabinet in an elevated position of Deputy Chief Minister, they didn’t last long.
In fact, Dhavalikar lasted all of five days, when the political quick-sand shifted from under his feet and he overnight found himself sacked from the cabinet. Two MLAs of the MGP he led - Ajgaonkar and Pauskar - switched to the BJP in a dubious post-midnight split-and-merger manoeuvring to side-step the anti-defection law and within hours, Dhavalikar was sacked less than a week after Sawant took charge.
A couple of months later, a similar fate befell Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai, his two party MLAs - Vinoda Paliencar and Jayesh Salgaonkar - and independent legislator from Porvorim, Rohan Khaunte. A day after the 10 Congress legislators ironically led by the then Opposition Leader Babu Kavlekar enacted yet another split-and-merger manoeuvre, Sawant dropped the four-some from his cabinet and filled the vacancies thus created with Kavlekar and two other defectors - Filipe Neri Rodrigues and Jennifer Monserrate. The fourth slot went to the restive Michael Lobo, the legislator from Calangute.
