Panaji, Oct 12 (HT): Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar is scheduled to hold a series of meetings on Friday with his cabinet colleagues and the Bharatiya Janata Party to address concerns over the redistribution of portfolios.
Parrikar will meet the BJP’s core committee members including three members of Parliament – Vinay Tendulkar, Shripad Naik and Narendra Sawaikar – and two others Dattaprasad Kholkar and Sunil Desai at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), where he is currently undergoing treatment.
The chief minister will also meet his cabinet colleagues, including leaders of alliance partners Sudin Dhavalikar and Vijai Sardesai, independent ministers Rohan Khaunte and Govind Gaude and BJP ministers Vishwajit Rane, Mauvin Godinho and Nilesh Cabral.
Parrikar, who had earlier promised he would redistribute the portfolios given his inability to discharge duties, postponed the decision in view of squabbling among allies.
Key portfolios like home, finance, mining and environment are with Parrikar. The chief minister dropped two ailing ministers from his cabinet, Francis D’Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar, on September 24. He inducted two others, Cabral and Milind Naik, a move that caused disquiet within the ruling BJP.
Deputy speaker and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo in a letter to the chief minister last Friday criticised his own government for keeping files pending. The party said it would ask Lobo to explain his outburst.