Paliencar likely to make way for Lobo in Pramod Sawant’s cabinet

PANAJI: Deputy speaker and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo is likely to be inducted in chief minister Pramod Sawant’s cabinet soon. The decision on whether to induct Lobo before or after the monsoon session of the assembly, which starts on July 15, will be taken by the weekend, a senior BJP leader said.
GFP’s Siolim MLA and water resources minister Vinod Paliencar is likely to be dropped to make way for Lobo’s entry into the cabinet, the senior BJP leader said.
Lobo is BJP’s two-time MLA from Calangute.
Sawant has already spoken to GFP president and TCP minister Vijai Sardesai over the issue and Sardesai is likely to take a decision soon, the BJP leader said. “We have not taken any decision on this issue,” Sardesai told TOI when asked about Paliencar being dropped from the cabinet.
Sources said that since Lobo’s birthday on June 18, the move to induct him in the cabinet has gained momentum.
During Lobo’s birthday celebrations, Sawant had hinted about his induction into the cabinet. Sawant had said that Lobo would be given “bigger responsibility” in the government. Currently, besides being deputy speaker, Lobo is also the chairman of North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA).
The senior BJP leader said that Paliencar has been told indirectly that he would be dropped from the cabinet and be made deputy speaker.
In 2014 itself, Lobo was eyeing a cabinet berth along with the other young turks in the BJP. He was among the group of BJP’s first-time legislators, led by then San Andre MLA Vishnu Wagh, who had demanded with then chief minister Manohar Parrikar that they should replace the “non-performing” BJP ministers.
Shirodkar also in race for cabinet berth
With eyes on Bardez taluka, to strengthen the party base for the next assembly elections, Sawant is likely to induct Lobo in the cabinet, a political observer said.
During the recent allocation of addition portfolios to ministers, only Paliencar was left out.
Sources said Lobo was supposed to be inducted in the cabinet when Sawant took over the reins of the state from former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, but at the last minute Sardesai expressed reluctance to drop Paliencar and the decision was stalled.
There are also speculations that the recently elected BJP Shiroda MLA Subhash Shirodkar is in the race for a cabinet berth, too. Shirodkar had quit Congress, faced a byelection, and got elected on the BJP ticket. The BJP senior leader said that as of date no decision has been taken on Shirodkar’s induction.