PANAJI: Mining, forest and environment, and education are some of the key portfolios likely to be demanded by coalition partners of the BJP-led state government during their meeting with chief minister Manohar
Parrikar at AIIMS in Delhi on Friday.
Sources said that Parrikar will discuss allocation of one or two additional portfolios to the ministers.
Parrikar has called senior MGP leader and PWD minister Ramkrishna Dhavalikar, GFP president and TCP minister Vijai Sardesai, three BJP MLAs — health minister Vishwajit Rane, panchayat minister Mauvin Godinho and power minister Nilesh Cabral — and independents — revenue minister Rohan Khanute and art and culture minister Govind Gaude.
BJP core committee members Dattaprasad Kholkar and Sanjeev Desai have also been called.
The meeting will be held at 12.30pm on Friday.
Rane is already in Delhi for a meeting. Sources said some others arrived in the national capital on Thursday while the rest will reach on Friday morning.
BJP state leaders who are likely to attend the meeting include Rajya Sabha MP and BJP state president Vinay Tendulkar, Union Ayush minister Shripad Naik and South Goa Lok Sabha MP Narendra Sawaikar.
Currently, three ministers — Sardesai, Dhavalikar and Cabral — hold four portfolios each, while the rest hold three each. The CM holds around 24 portfolios some of which he is likely to divest. However, it is not clear when exactly this will happen.
BJP sources said that in view of the fast approaching Lok Sabha elections, the chief minister should continue to hold home and finance portfolios.
The mines portfolio is one of the most sought after portfolios even though mining activities in the state have come to a stop since March 16, sources said, adding that this is because, with the state and central governments pushing for its restart, there is hope building about the strong likelihood of mining resuming.
The sources also said that the BJP is opposed to handing over the portfolio of education to the allies. Even across the country, in BJP-ruled state, education portfolio is held by party ministers, mainly those with Sangh roots.
Cooperation is another portfolio that is sought by the allies as the minister concerned can control cooperative bodies, including cooperative banks and societies. In 2012, cooperation portfolio was held by MGP president Pandurang Dhavalikar, till he was divested of the portfolio by then CM Laxmikant Parsekar who took over charge from Parrikar in November 2014.
The decision to allot additional portfolios was taken after BJP national president Amit Shah tweeted that Parrikar will continue as the CM and that he will carry out a cabinet reshuffle and allot additional portfolios to the ministers.
MGP is likely to demand that their Savordem MLA Deepak Pauskar be given chairmanship of Goa Tourism Development Corporation, sources said, adding that before allotting additional portfolios Parrikar will hold a discussion with the coalition partners and get their nod.
On September 24, a day before the “inauspicious” ‘pitru paksh’ period of the Hindu calender began, Parrikar dropped two ailing ministers, Francis D’Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar, from the cabinet. He replaced them with Mormugao MLA Milind Naik and Cabral. Pitru paksh ended on Tuesday.
“Let the chief minister give us a proposal on the portfolios he plans to allocate, then we (GFP) will carefully examine it and decide,” Sardesai said last week.