New Pramod Sawant team: From rising power centre to 7-time MLA to ex-CM

Vishwajit Rane

Vishwajit Rane, who had quit the Congress to join the BJP in 2017, was the health minister in the previous Sawant government. A five-time MLA from Valpoi, Rane’s role in the BJP’s victory in the neighbouring Poreim seat — held by his father and Congress veteran Pratap Singh Rane for 11 terms — has led to his rise as another power centre in the state BJP. His “differences” with Sawant had roiled party circles in the past.

Mauvin Godinho

A seven-time MLA, Mauvin Godinho, is among the most experienced legislators in Goa. A prominent Catholic face in the BJP, Godinho, the Dabolim MLA, was the transport minister in the previous BJP government. He had been a three-time Congress legislator, getting elected once on the ticket of a regional outfit, the Goa People’s Party, too. His exchange with Tamil Nadu finance minister Palanivel Thiagrajan at the 43rd GST Council meeting last year had made headlines.

Ravi Naik

Among Goa’s most seasoned politicians, Ravi Naik joined the BJP ahead of the February 2022 state Assembly polls. He was a Congress CM in the 1990s. He has also been the only CM from the Bhandari community, a numerically strong OBC group that accounts for most of Goa’s Hindus. He first became an MLA from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) in the sixth Legislative Assembly of Goa, Daman and Diu. After Goa was granted statehood, he became a Congress MLA five times before switching to the saffron party in December 2021.

Nilesh Cabral

A three-time MLA from Curchorem in South Goa, Cabral was the minister for power and law in the previous Sawant ministry. As the law minister, Cabral had last year proposed a mandatory pre-marital counselling for Goa couples with a view to bring down the rising divorce cases in the state. However, the proposal was shelved after the state BJP leadership opposed it. As the power minister, he also faced the challenge of restoring power in various parts of the state after it was hit by cyclone Tauktae in June 2021.

Govind Gaude

In the previous BJP government Gaude was the minister for art and culture and tribal welfare. As an independent MLA from Priol, he had then supported the BJP and was inducted into its ministry. This time, Gaude joined the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls and won again from his seat as he defeated senior MGP leader Pandurang alias Deepak Dhavalikar.

Subhash Shirodkar

One of the most senior legislators in the 40-member Goa House, Shirodkar had been a five-time Congress MLA and even a minister in the past Congress governments. He resigned from the Congress in 2018 and contested and won the bypoll from the Shiroda constituency on the BJP ticket. He had also won his seat in the 1999 election as a Goa People’s Congress Party candidate.

Rohan Khaunte

Rohan Khaunte belongs to the influential Gaud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) community. He had won as an Independent MLA from Porvorim in 2017 and became a minister in the BJP government led by then CM Manohar Parrikar after he supported it. However, after 12 MLAs from the Congress and MGP defected to the BJP in 2019 giving the latter a majority, Khaunte and other allies in the Parrikar ministry were dropped by the Sawant government. He has spent the last three years in the Opposition ranks, attacking the Sawant dispensation over several issues including the linear projects cutting through the Mollem National Park in South Goa. He joined the BJP ahead of the Assembly polls and won his seat.

Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate

A political heavyweight from Tiswadi taluka, Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate, a six-time MLA, has won Panaji seat this time by defeating Utpal Parrikar, son of Manohar Parrikar, who contested as an Independent candidate after being denied ticket by the BJP from this seat. Monserrate’s wife Jennifer Monserrate was a minister in the previous Sawant government. She too won this election from her Taleigao seat. Monserrates were among the ten Congress MLAs who had defected to the BJP in 2019. Their son Rohit is the Panaji Corporation mayor. Monserrate had earlier won elections on the tickets of the Congress as well as the United Goans Democratic Party. He had also faced criminal charges including one for attacking the Panaji police station.