Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant expanded his cabinet on Thursday, August 21, by inducting two senior leaders, former chief minister Digambar Kamat and former assembly speaker Ramesh Tawadkar.
With their inclusion, the Goa council of ministers has now reached its full strength of 12. Governor Pusapati Ashok Gajapati Raju administered the oath of office and secrecy at Cabo Raj Niwas.
Digambar Kamat’s Return After 13 Years
For Kamat, the ceremony marked a return to ministerial office after more than a decade. He last held power in 2012 as chief minister before being succeeded by Manohar Parrikar. “I am happy that I will get strength to work for the common man in this state. I am returning to the cabinet after 13 years. I will get an opportunity to work even harder than before. God and the central leadership have given me this opportunity,” Kamat said.
Kamat first entered the Parrikar cabinet in 2000 as a BJP minister before switching to the Congress in 2005. He was elected chief minister in 2007 and completed a full five-year term, the only Goa leader to have done so. His career has not been without controversy. He faces trial in the Louis Berger bribery case and was named in an illegal mining case by the Justice M B Shah Commission, which estimated a Rs 35,000 crore loss to the state exchequer. Earlier this year, he was discharged from the latter case.
Ramesh Tawadkar Steps Down As Speaker
Tawadkar, who resigned as assembly speaker earlier in the day, returns to the cabinet after previously serving as minister for sports, youth affairs and tribal welfare between 2012 and 2017. He rejoined the BJP in 2022 after a brief break and was elected speaker soon after. “From the day I have taken the responsibility (of the Speaker), since that day I have tried to do justice to the post,” he said, adding that he left the position “with a heavy heart” but accepted the party’s decision.
He is expected to be allotted portfolios similar to his earlier tenure. With his exit from the Speaker’s chair, the BJP is likely to nominate Ganesh Gaonkar for the post, while the opposition has yet to announce its candidate.
