By Rajan Narayan

IN politics, only the blackmailing babies get big lollipops. Sooner or later Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will have to reward some of his colleagues who are screaming that they have not got their rewards for being loyal soldiers of the BJP. The MLA crying the loudest is Ramesh Tawadkar, speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Pramod Sawant cannot afford to antagonize Tawadkar as the hearings on the disqualification petition of the Congress defectors is not complete yet.
The speaker could easily topple the Pramod Sawant government. Apparently, the speaker is tired of being a figurehead and wants a big cabinet portfolio as a reward for his services to the party and to Pramod Sawant. Pramod Sawant can no longer resists pressure from the speaker to give him a cabinet berth.

KILLING TWO BIRDS
SO CHIEF Minister Pramod Sawant apparently decided to kill two birds with one stone. There is pressure on Pramod Sawant to sack Alexio Sequeira, who has threatened to go back to Congress. Alexio Sequeira is not in favour with the BJP because the voters in his Nuvem constituency did not support Pallavi Dempo in the South Goa parliamentary elections. Pramod Sawant has reportedly decided to shift Alexio Sequeira to the post of the speaker and replace him by Tawadkar, the speaker.
The chief minister is also under tremendous pressure to drop Govind Gaude, the minister for culture. Govind Gaude has made a mess of the renovation of the Kala Academy. To begin with, it was found that both the floor and the roof of the Kala Academy were leaking. The retaining wall of the outdoor auditorium collapsed some time ago. The Charles Correa Foundation has exposed the defects in the renovation of the Kala Academy.
The original Kala Academy structure was built by the favoured architect, the late Charles Correa. The latest disaster has been the malfunctioning of the lighting system in the theatre. Last week on Saturday, April 13 at the Dinanath Mangeshkar uditorium the lights started to blink during the performance of the well-known Marathi play Purush. The artist Sharad Ponkshe had to stop the play and apologise to the audience who had paid to watch the very popular Marathi play. The interruption of the performance has created great embarrassment to the chief minister.
We understand that the chief minister has received permission to drop Govind Gaude. His place in the cabinet will be given to Michael Lobo, who had been protesting to the party for not recognizing his contribution. Between Michael and his wife Delilah Lobo, they control the Calangute and Siolim constituencies. Michael is also trying to extend his influence to Mapusa and Morjim. The BJP High Command and Low Command cannot afford to ignore him.
The BJP High Command forced Nilesh Cabral to resign to accommodate Alexio Sequeira. Alexio Sequeira was one of the ten defectors from the Congress who joined the BJP under the leadership of Babush Monserrate. Unlike the other Congress MLA, Alexio Sequeira has threatened to resign from the primary membership of the BJP if he is not given a cabinet berth. The BJP did not want to risk antagonizing the Catholic minority community. This was the background to the dropping of Nilesh Cabral to induct Alexio Sequeira.

LOYAL NILESH CABRAL
NILESH Cabral have been a loyal BJP MLA having been elected from Curchorem on the BJP ticket. In the run up to the elections the BJP is under pressure to bring back Nilesh Cabral into the Cabinet. There is a very strong possibility that the BJP will drop Sudhin Dhavalikar, the MGP MLA, to bring back Nilesh Cabral. The BJP High Command has given an ultimatum to Sudhin Dhavalikar: Either merge MGP with the BJP or risk losing his cabinet berth.
The biggest thorn in the flesh of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is Vishwajit Rane, Minister for Health and Town & Country Planning, and Forest. There is pressure on Pramod Sawant to drop Vishwajit Rane after the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court struck down the amendment to the Town & Country Planning Act. Vishwajit has also created problems with his statements against Pramod Sawant. The health minister’s threat to sack doctors in the GMC for not keeping up with technology has also agitated doctors close to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
Vishwajit has made enemies all over and has been seen as the destroyer of green Goa. Vishwajit however has the blessings and protections of the big builders from Delhi like DLF, with whom he is developing a large project in Delhi. DLF in turn are reported to be close to Jay Shah, the son of Home Minister Amit Shah.
Pramod Sawant wants Vishwajit Rane out as he is promoting himself as a candidate for the chief minister’s post in place of Pramod Sawant. We understand that the new BJP president, Damu Naik, is in favour of sacking Vishwajit Rane from the Cabinet.
The ten Congress MLAs who defected to the BJP are also angry with the BJP High Command and Pramod Sawant. This includes senior former Congress MLAs like Digambar Kamat. The only MLAs who has benefited from the defection are Atanasio Babush Monseratte and Mauvin Godinho. The shocking defection of three-time chief minister Pratapsingh Roaji Rane helped Vishwajit in getting the TCP portfolio. Vishwajit is now claiming that it was Amit Shah who appointed him as TCP minister.
Whatever may be the truth the BJP cannot afford to continue with Vishwajit Rane. Which is why the BJP president, Damu Naik, is seeking the support of former chief minister, Ravi Naik.

RESHUFFLE CHALLENGE
PRAMOD SAWANT cannot delay the reshuffle for long. The biggest challenge before him is to retain the support of the Catholic MLAs. The Catholic MLAs control 15 of the 40 constituencies. Without them, no party can form the government in Goa. Pramod Sawant will have to reward some of the Catholic MLAs supporting the BJP. At the same time, he has to retain the loyalty of the Hindu MLAs. This is the challenge faced by Pramod Sawant and the national BJP leadership.