Two ministers inducted in BJP-led Goa cabinet
Panaji, Sep 24 : BJP MLAs Milind Naik, a former Power Minister, and Nilesh Cabral were sworn in as cabinet ministers in the BJP-led cabinet in Goa even as ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar dropped two ministers who have been hospitalized for severe ailments.
The two Ministers were administered the oath of secrecy by Governor Mridula Sinha at a formal function at the Raj Bhavan on Monday evening.
While Naik has served as a Power Minister in a previous BJP-led coalition government under then Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, a two-time MLA has been sworn in as Minister for the first time.
Both Ministers said they had been informed by Parrikar by phone on Monday morning that they had been shortlisted for ministership.
When Cabral was asked that two of their colleagues had been sacked to make way for the two cabinet berths, the newly inducted Minister said: "It is not my responsibility that my colleague has been dropped and I have been made Minister. That is the CM's responsibility. Tomorrow they may drop me too... What is the big deal?"
Naik and Cabral have replaced Urban Development Minister Francis D'Souza and Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar.
Reacting to the development, D'Souza, who is being treated for cancer at a New York hospital, told IANS over the phone: "I am happy with the decision. This is the fruit of working for the party for 20 long years. I have been ill for only one month."
Madkaikar is being treated in Mumbai since June when he suffered a brain stroke.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Sunday had hinted at a ministerial rejig in a tweet, which also said that Parrikar, who is being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences would, however, continue as Chief Minister.
Parrikar has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and now Delhi for the last seven months.
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Count of voters in Gujarat drops by 73.73 lakh to 4.34 crore post-SIR
Ahmedabad (PTI): The names of nearly 74 lakh voters have been dropped from Gujarat's draft electoral rolls after the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, pegging the total count of electors at 4.34 crore as against the 5.08 crore earlier, an official said on Friday.
The draft electoral rolls were published here by the Election Commission on Friday.
A total of 73.73 lakh voters were omitted from the electoral rolls after the exercise initiated by the EC to clean the rolls, state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Hareet Shukla said.
"Before the publication of the draft electoral rolls, a total of 5,08,43,436 voters were registered in the state. After the publication of these rolls, the number of voters is now 4,34,70,109," he said.
"During the SIR campaign, the names of a total of 73,73,327 voters have been removed from the draft electoral roll," Shukla said.
The names of voters in following categories were deleted in the draft electoral rolls -- deceased voters (18,07,278), absent voters (9,69,662), voters who have permanently migrated (40,25,553), voters registered in two places (3,81,470) and others (1,89,364), a release from CEO office said.
The SIR exercise began in Gujarat on November 4 and ended on December 14.
After the publication of draft rolls, objections and claims regarding them can be submitted to authorities till January 18, the EC earlier said.
