Goa minister Aleixo Sequeira exits cabinet, to be replaced by Digambar Kamat

PANAJI: Goa surroundings government minister Aleixo Sequeira on wed resigned from the Pramod Sawant’s team up forward of a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, citing “personal” reasons.Sequeira contested the 2022 assembly elections on a Congress ticket, was among the eight lawmakers who crossed over to the BJP in September 2022. He was subsequently inducted into the state cabinet in November 2022.In the cabinet, Sequeira is expected to be replaced by former Congress chief minister Digambar Kamat, 71, who had also shifted to the BJP along with Sequeira and others in 2022. “I am getting an opportunity to serve the people of Goa. I am thankful to God, to the central leadership,” said Kamat..Sequeira, the 68-year-old MLA from Nuvem, has been ailing for some time and was in and out of hospitals for several weeks this year, including at AIIMS in New Delhi. He, however, insisted on Wednesday that his health wasn’t the reason for his departure from the cabinet.“I will be relieved of a lot of responsibilities that I have taken on my shoulders. I have no issues with the party. I will continue to be a member of the BJP. I was toying with the idea [to resign] for some time,” Sequeira told reporters.Goa speaker Ramesh Tawadkar said he would send his resignation to governor Ashok Gajapathi Raju and that he would be inducted into the cabinet on Thursday.“I wanted to continue as the speaker, but the party has decided to give me this responsibility. The party organisation wanted me to take this post. So, I have to abide by the party’s decision. We have to go as per what the party demands,” Tawadkar said.The swearing-in ceremony will be held on Thursday.Sawant, who is in Delhi for a meeting, refused to comment on the cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday evening.BJP leaders said Digambar Kamat would take Sequeira’s place, while Ramesh Tawadkar would be inducted in the spot vacated by Govind Gaude, who was sacked earlier this year.Kamat and 15 others accused of corruption in a case relating to renewal of Goa’s mining leases were discharged in the case by a Panaji sessions court earlier this year.Kamat also faces corruption charges in connection with the Louis Berger bribery case, in which Churchill Alemão, who was the minister of public works in Kamat’s cabinet, had been previously arrested. Charges have been framed in this case.Kamat was chief minister between 2007 and 2012, and was accused at the time by the BJP of plotting a ₹25,000 crore illegal mining scam in Goa.