Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who took oath of office for the second term on March 28, is now busy with portfolio distribution among his cabinet colleagues, who include ambitious politicians like Vishwajit Rane and veterans like former Goa chief minister Ravi Naik.
Here is a look at the faces in Goa’s cabinet.
Pramod Sawant: He is a third-term legislator from Sankhli. He became MLA for the first time in 2012 and belongs to Maratha community. He was speaker of the state legislature before he was elevated to the CM post in 2019. Sawant enjoys a strong backing of the RSS as he has his roots in the saffron organisation.
Vishwajit Rane: Ambitious and fiercely competitive, Rane is son of former Goa CM Pratapsingh Rane. He has been getting elected from Valpoi constituency since 2007 and was in Congress till 2017. He was one of the first Congress leaders in Goa to switch to the BJP and get re-elected. A management graduate, Rane is a Maratha. He has never hidden his chief ministerial ambitions. His wife Deviya is a BJP legislator from Poriem constituency.
Mauvin Godinho: He is among the senior Christian leaders in the BJP. He was a Manohar Parrikar loyalist and it was Parrikar who was instrumental in getting Godinho to BJP from Congress in 2016.
Nilesh Cabral: Another senior Christian community leader from the BJP, Cabral has been winning from Curchorem constituency since 2017. He too was a Parrikar loyalist till the latter’s death. Cabral was chairman of Goa tourism authority and minister for power since 2018.
Atanasio Monserrate: The most controversial among BJP legislators, Monserrate has a strongman and Robin Hood image in Panjim and Goa. He and his family control Panjim municipal corporation - his son is Panjim mayor and wife Jennifer is BJP legislator from Taliegao. Monserrate defeated Utpal Parrikar from Panjim in recent elections and made a controversial statement that BJP contributed nothing to his victory as most BJP activists were tacitly supporting Utpal Parrikar.
Ravi Naik: The seniormost among cabinet members in terms of age and legislative experience, Naik was chief minister of Goa in mid 1990s. A seasoned Congress man, Ravi joined the BJP ahead of 2022 elections and is the sole Bhandari community member in the cabinet.
Rohan Khaunte: Rohan is the Saraswat Brahmin face in Sawant cabinet. Gaud Saraswat Brahmins are an influential community in Goa and carried a lot of clout when Parrikar was BJP boss in Goa as he too belonged to the community. Khaunte was an independent legislator in 2017 and had been made a minister by Parrikar. But he was thrown out of the cabinet by Sawant in the latter’s first term. Sawant has brought him back to the cabinet as he joined the BJP ahead of elections and also in an effort to woo the GSB community.
Subhash Shirodkar: He is a Congress veteran who joined BJP in 2018. He represents Shiroda constituency and has represented it four times on Congress ticket.
Govind Gaude: He belongs to a scheduled tribe and was a minister in previous government. He contested 2017 election as an independent and supported BJP after election results. In 2022, he defeated Deepak Dhaulikar of MGP, contesting on BJP ticket.
