Goa CM to reward three Congress rebels with ministries

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday sacked four alliance ministers, who had refused to resign from the Goa cabinet, to pave way for the entry of four new ministers, days after 10 Congress MLAs rebelled and joined the BJP.

The four ministers who were sacked unceremoniously on Saturday are Deputy Chief Minister Vijai Sardesai, Vinod Palienkar and Jayesh Salgaocar all from Goa Forward party and Rohan Khaunte an Independent MLA and Minister.

Speaking to Deccan Herald at the state legislative assembly complex Michael Lobo, the lone BJP MLA who will be sworn in at Raj Bhavan later on Saturday, said that the four ministers were giving the Chief Minister a tough time, which was why they were dropped from the cabinet.

"The CM had given a hint after the merger of Congress MLAs (on Wednesday) that people in Goa were unhappy with some ministers, who thought they were over smart and had their own agendas. CM was feeling very uncomfortable," said Lobo, who earlier today resigned as Deputy Speaker of the state legislative assembly hours before the swearing-in.

Among the new ministers likely to be sworn-in later today is the former leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar -- who led the Congress splinter group, which later merged into the BJP -- former Congress MLAs, Jennifer Monserrate and Filipe Neri Rodrigues. Kavlekar is tipped to be Deputy Chief Minister.