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India Today
a day ago
- Politics
- India Today
What minister Gaude's sacking says about the Goa BJP
Almost a month after he alleged corruption in the tribal welfare department helmed by chief minister Dr Pramod Sawant, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dropped minister Govind Gaude from the Goa cabinet. In the evening of June 18, Goa Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai accepted Sawant's recommendation to remove Gaude, a two-term MLA from Priol belonging to the Hindu Gauda scheduled tribe (ST) community, from the council of at a 'Prerana Din' event at Ponda on May 25, Gaude, who held charge of the art and culture department, lashed out at the Sawant-led tribal welfare department that had organised the event along with the United Tribal Association Alliance. Gaude alleged contractors were asked to pay slush money, and that tax-payers' money was not being utilised efficiently. The statement came as a major embarrassment to Sawant and his government. The visibly upset CM promised 'appropriate action' against Gaude. 'Responsible ministers must make responsible statements,' Sawant his part, Gaude has dug his heels in and indicated he is prepared for the long haul. 'I have been rewarded this fate on the Goa Revolution Day for standing up for the downtrodden communities. Gratitude to my Government and Party for liberating me to continue the struggle that I voiced for,' he tweeted on micro-blogging site X (formerly Twitter).On June 19, Sawant told reporters it was his decision to drop Gaude from the cabinet. Damodar 'Damu' Naik, the state BJP president, said it was the CM's prerogative to decide on inducting or dropping ministers. The opposition claims Gaude was scapegoated for speaking out against corruption in the government. Leader of opposition and Congress leader Yuri Alemao says the BJP was 'intolerant of those who expose corruption'. Multiple ministers are facing charges of malfeasance but action was taken against Gaude instead. The people of Goa will send these people packing in the 2027 assembly election, Alemao In March, former minister and senior BJP leader Pandurang Madkaikar had claimed ministers were 'busy counting money' and 'looting' Goa. Shockingly, Madkaikar said he had paid Rs 15-20 lakh to a minister to get his work done. Following the statement, a north Goa court earlier this month ordered an FIR to be registered. Madkaikar, a former four-term MLA from Cumbarjua, also belongs to Gaude's Hindu Gauda ST Gaude, too, came under fire for technical glitches and allegations of corruption in the renovation of the Kala Academy, Goa, which was established in 1970 as an apex body to develop music, dance, drama and fine arts. He also found himself in the eye of a controversy after he was heard allegedly abusing and threatening a government officer in a purported audio clip of him that made the rounds last 2017, Gaude won as an independent after defeating Pandurang 'Deepak' Dhavalikar of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). He joined the BJP and retained his seat in 2022. Deepak's elder brother, Ramakrishna 'Sudin' Dhavalikar, is power minister in the Sawant cabinet, and Gaude has a bristling relationship with the Dhavalikar is the second minister to be dropped from Sawant's cabinet. In November 2023, public works department (PWD) minister Nilesh Cabral had resigned to facilitate the induction of Aleixo Sequeira as minister for environment. Gaude's axing has led to speculation about a larger reshuffle in the ranks. Straws in the wind indicate former CM Digambar Kamat may make a comeback. The name of Calangute MLA Michael Lobo is also doing the rounds as a possible inductee after Sawant showered lavish praise on him in public. However, the CM has indicated a reshuffle is not on the cards in the immediate likely names from the tribal community who may replace Gaude are speaker Ramesh Tawadkar and Sanvordem MLA Ganesh Gaonkar, who defeated former minister Deepak Prabhu Pauskar. Tawadkar and Gaude are said to be at odds over emerging as tribal leaders in the state. Tawadkar had organised a rally named after Birsa Munda, and Gaude had questioned the utility of this campaign in his speech, which eventually led to him getting the marching orders. While Tawadkar is said to be close to Sawant, Gaude is reported to be close to his challenger Vishwajit Rane, the health minister. The son of former CM and Congress veteran Pratapsingh Raoji Rane, Vishwajit quit the Congress and joined the BJP in 2017 and was re-elected from his Valpoi constituency in north Ranes come from a prominent Kshatriya Maratha feudal family with its base in Sattari, and Rane senior has been the longest-serving CM of Goa. He was also the speaker of the Goa assembly. Vishwajit is said to be eager to occupy the chair his father once sat 2022, the BJP managed to retain power in Goa with 20 of 40 seats, largely due to the anti-incumbency vote being fractured by newer players like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC). The Congress could win just 11 seats, and just months later, Kamat, then leader of opposition Lobo and six other MLAs defected to join the an internal churn in the BJP and the Congress retaining the South Goa Lok Sabha seat has indicated that all is not well in the ruling to India Today MagazineMust Watch
News18
3 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Ministers removal from Goa cabinet: Oppn hits out at govt over corruption
Agency: PTI Panaji, Jun 19 (PTI) The opposition parties in Goa have targeted the Pramod Sawant government over alleged corruption after the removal of Art and Culture minister Govind Gaude from the state cabinet. Gaude was on Wednesday dropped from the state cabinet, almost a month after he alleged corruption in the tribal welfare department headed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. The notification issued by state Under Secretary (General Administration) Shreyas DSilva did not mention the official reason for his sacking. Speaking to reporters late Wednesday evening, Goa Congress chief Amit Patkar claimed several ministers in Sawant-led cabinet were involved in corruption and needed to be removed. AAP Goa president Amit Palekar in a post on his X handle welcomed Gaude's removal and claimed his party, with the help of people of the state, will bring down the Sawant government. Goa Forward Party head Vijai Sardesai said the minister was never removed in the past when there were allegations of corruption against him. 'But, now when he raised allegations of corruption in the tribal department, the government acted against him," Sardesai said. First Published: June 19, 2025, 09:15 IST
The Print
11-06-2025
- Health
- The Print
Goa health minister's outburst at doctor adds to CM Sawant's troubles amid power tussles in state BJP
Two weeks earlier, Goa Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude raised corruption charges against the Sawant-led tribal welfare department, triggering a political storm and later backtracking by saying that he was commenting on the department officials, not the CM. Since assuming office for a second term, the CM Sawant-led government has been facing the heat from power tussles within the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Vishwajit Rane, who has had a history of rows with the CM, is the latest BJP leader to have created a troubling situation for Sawant. New Delhi: After Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane was caught on camera publicly reprimanding a senior doctor last week, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has attempted to stop a state-wide doctors' strike by overruling a suspension order Rane had called for against the senior doctor. The latest controversy arose when Rane visited the Goa Medical College, where he chided the chief medical officer, Dr Rudresh Kuttikar, for what the minister perceived as misbehaviour with a patient and ordered his immediate suspension. A viral video shows Rane shouting: 'Kick him out … you will not be here with your bloody ego and learn to control your tongue. You are a doctor. Put your hand out of your pocket when you are standing before me. I usually do not lose my cool, but you have to behave. Remove the mask [that doctors wear] when I am talking. Give your explanation when an investigation starts. Then, I will consider them, or you will be suspended for two years.' Rane then asked the medical superintendent to issue a suspension order against the CMO. Soon after, the video went viral, and in the absence of the doctor's version of what had happened, it created a political storm. Goa Indian Medical Association (IMA) condemned Rane and threatened to start a strike, and CM Sawant had to step in to limit the damage. Overruling the suspension order, CM Sawant Sunday said, 'I reviewed the issue at Goa Medical College and held discussions with the health minister. I want to assure the people of Goa that Dr Rudresh Kuttikar does not face a suspension.' IMA has demanded a public apology from Rane. However, after Rane apologised, IMA termed it as a 'studio apology', calling for the minister to publicly apologise in the hospital casualty department—the same place where he had rebuked the CMO. Amid the doctors protesting against Rane, CM Sawant held a meeting with the Goa Association of Resident Doctors (GARD) Monday night, when he agreed to accept nine demands of GARD and the Goa Medical College Doctors' Union. Speaking to ThePrint, BJP state president Damodar Naik told ThePrint, 'The minister has made an apology, and the chief minister has made efforts to listen to the doctors' demands, resolve the crisis, and accept most of their demands. Doctors should be respected; there is no doubt about that.' In his latest move, CM Sawant visited the Goa Medical College Tuesday to make peace with the agitating doctors. His assurances made them call off their planned strike, but they are still expecting the health minister to communicate a formal apology for his behaviour. Also Read: Goa's Pramod Sawant govt faces heat from within—files 'handled in secret', tribal bhavan in limbo Vishwajit Rane vs CM Sawant It is not the first time that Vishwajit Rane has caused an embarrassing moment for Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. Rane, the son of former chief minister Pratap Singh Rane and five-time MLA, has been a chief ministerial aspirant since joining the BJP. During COVID-19, when thousands of people died in Goa due to oxygen shortage, CM Sawant took a dig at Rane, saying the crisis was due to the mismanagement of the Goa Medical College. Rane hit back at the chief minister, saying he was misguided and demanded a high court probe into the crisis. Rane also clashed with the CM in a cabinet meeting in May 2021 after Pramod Sawant pointed out oxygen mismanagement. Rane left the meeting midway and did not attend meetings on oxygen supply for several weeks. The Goa High Court reprimanded CM Sawant and Rane during hearings on public interest litigations regarding the pandemic, saying, 'This is not the time for politics.' Again, after the 2022 assembly poll results, Rane's wife, Deviya Rane, also an MLA from Poriem, told the media, 'Her husband, Vishwajit, is ready to take over as CM as he has 15 years of experience.' Rane, who holds a crucial portfolio, visited Delhi and met party leaders to promote his candidature, as well. The BJP high command, however, did not favour him, and Pramod Sawant became CM for the second time. Rane defected from Congress in 2017 when he also engineered defections of two Congress MLAs to the BJP, to cushion the party in the 40-member Goa assembly. After CM Manohar Parrikar died, Rane hoped to get the top post. However, while the BJP leadership considered his name, it selected Pramod Sawant, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader, who had grown within the BJP cadre, for the top post. One BJP MLA told ThePrint: 'The problem of the BJP in Goa is that only a handful of MLAs come from an original RSS ideological background—unlike in other states. Most are from Congress and other parties. They see themselves as chief minister claimants and do not have what is required to follow BJP-like discipline. They also no longer have a figure, such as Parrikar, who commanded widespread respect in Goa BJP. That is why they undermine Pramod Sawant, who keeps a relatively low profile.' BJP vs BJP in Goa Vishwajit and Gaude, however, are not the only ministers to have troubled CM Sawant. His government has been facing opposition from within the party and reeling under intra-party rivalries since before his second tenure started. Earlier, at an event, Gaude said: 'A huge amount of taxpayers' money is allotted to the tribal welfare department. When it fails to organise any programmes efficiently, it shows a lack of government control over the administration.' CM Sawant threatened action against Gaude to dissuade him from further making such statements. Former minister and senior leader Pandurang Madkaikar, this year, told the media, 'All ministers are minting money in Goa. I had to pay between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 20 lakh to a minister for a small task. It is not corruption but loot.' Launching an attack on him, his party colleague, Goa Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho, claimed that Madkaikar was making up the corruption charges. In January this year, former MLA Farrel Furtado brought allegations of a 'cash-for-job scam' in the state, and the Enforcement Directorate is currently investigating the same. Former PWD minister and MLA Nilesh Cabral, in the same month, criticised CM Sawant for stalled projects in Curchorem constituency, where Cabral is the MLA. In March this year, when party general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh visited Goa, some MLAs, including Gaude, complained to him about BJP ministers allegedly indulging in corruption. A month before the 2022 assembly elections, Satya Pal Malik, former Goa Governor from November 2019 to August 2020, said his removal from Goa before the party sent him to Meghalaya had come because of his corruption charges against the CM Sawant-led government. (Edited by Madhurita Goswami) Also Read: Goa didn't choose to become a casino city—now it's a state-sponsored moral gamble
