After joining BJP on Wednesday, three former Congress MLAs were sworn in as ministers in the Goa Cabinet on Saturday. Michael Lobo, who stepped down as deputy Speaker of the Assembly earlier in the day, was also sworn in as the minister.
Apart from Lobo, Chandrakant Kavlekar, Philip Nery Rodrigues, Jennifer Monserratte, three out of 10 MLAs who recently joined BJP, were sworn in as ministers at Raj Bhavan at 3 pm.
Filipe Nery Rodrigues, Jennifer Monserratte, and Chandrakant Kavleka, three out of the ten MLAs who joined BJP from Congress recently, take oath as ministers in Goa Government. Former Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo also takes oath.@BJP4India @INCIndia pic.twitter.com/24wyawPKRq
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) July 13, 2019
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Former Leader of the Opposition in the House, Chandrakant Kavlekar, will be the new deputy CM, Sawant confirmed, replacing Vijai Sardesai of the GFP.
The latest move comes a day after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant asked three Goa Forward Party (GFP) leaders and an Independent lawmaker to resign.
As the new 10 MLAs inducted in the saffron party, its strength has increased to 27 in the 40-member House. Congress is now reduced to just five.