The 7th July deadline is fast approaching by when Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will have to drop one minister from his jumbo cabinet in keeping with the new law that limits the number of Ministers that can be housed in a cabinet.
It is going to be a Herculean task for the otherwise very shrewd and manipulative IITian Chief Minister to decide as to whom to axe. Much as he would have liked to, he is not expected to drop Micky Pacheco, Babush Monseratte or Filipe Neri Rodrigues. The Chief Minister must be hoping that the Supreme Court will soon decide the disqualification petitions against Rajendra Arlecar and Agriculture Minister Dayanand Mandrekar. And if Mandrekar's election is set aside, the Supreme Court will have saved the Chief Minister of the awkward and embarrassing task of dropping a Minister. And there seems no imminent danger of Chief Minister Parrikar losing his chair as long as he has the blessings and the support of Leader of Opposition Mr. Pratapsingh Rane whom the Chief Minister controls through remote control. And life must be shinning for the Chief Minister with the love and affection of some opposition MLA's like Harish Zantye to whom his cinema theatre business interests are above the Congress interests and Dr Wilfred De Sousa who has a very cordial and self serving relationship with the Chief Minister. Not forgetting the one time vociferous leader and now ever so subdued MLA Mathany Saldanha whose voice and conscience is safely sealed and stored in the BJP Coffers. It is a matter of fact and not fiction that Mr. Manohar Parrikar's strength comes from the Opposition MLAs who he has been able to keep in line with the carrots and sticks he dangles. Aires Rodrigues Ribandar ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
