Parrikar inducts 13-member cabinet
SANDESH PRABHUDESAI, PANAJI | 03 June 2002 23:29 ISTThe Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government was today morning sworn in with a 13-member cabinet, under the leadership of Manohar Parrikar.
It includes eight from the BJP, two each from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the United Goans Democratic Party, besides one independent.
Besides seven members, who have been ministers earlier, Parrikar has introduced six new faces, two each from the supporting parties - the MGP and the UGDP, besides the BJP.
The new faces sworn in today were Sudin Dhawalikar and Pandurang Madkaikar of the MGP, Mickky Pacheco and Atansio Monseratte of the UGDP and Vinay Tendulkar and Dayanand Mandrekar of the BJP.
Francis D'Souza, who has been the minister earlier but not belonging to the BJP, has also been included in the cabinet. BJP's former minister Philip Neri Rodrigues, who was now elected independent, has become the minister again.
BJP's former ministers Digambar Kamat, Suresh Amonkar, Babu Azgaonkar and Ramarao Desai continue to be in the cabinet.
Though 13 are only one less than Goa's traditional jumbo cabinet, Parrikar calls it a beginning. He admits that bringing it to the real size of eight - 20 per cent of the size of the 40-member House - will take more time. He thus prefers to have a law in this regard.
Parrikar refuses to admit that the BJP has ultimately lost by having mid-term elections in 32 months, where the government has reduced to a three-party coalition instead of the total BJP government earlier.
He claims it is a more stable government than the earlier one since the people have elected a cohesive group of 17 today, who will not defect. In spite of being a coalition, it has no deputy chief minister.
Though the governor has not specified the need to have a vote of confidence, the Assembly needs to meet before 15 June to pass the vote on account. "That itself will be my confidence vote", he adds.
