Goa minister removed from Cabinet weeks after alleging corruption in CM’s department

Goa minister Govind Gaude was on Wednesday removed from the state Cabinet, three weeks after he made allegations of corruption in the Department of Tribal Welfare, The Indian Express reported.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant holds the tribal welfare portfolio in the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party government.

The decision to drop Gaude, the art and culture minister, from the Cabinet was taken unanimously, Goa BJP chief Damu Naik told The Indian Express.

“It was taken after consultations by the government, the party and the party’s central leadership,” he was quoted as saying. “Party discipline is a must.”

A gazette notification said that Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai had accepted the chief minister’s recommendation to remove Gaude from the Council of Ministers, the newspaper reported.

In a social media post, Gaude said that he had been “rewarded this fate” for standing with the marginalised sections of society on the occasion of Goa Liberation Day, which is celebrated on June 18.

At a state-level function on May 26, Gaude had alleged that the state tribal welfare department was inefficient, and had claimed that its officials were taking bribes in exchange for signing files, PTI reported.

Gaude, an Adivasi leader, had also questioned why the construction of a “Tribal Bhavan” in the state had been stalled, and said that many Adivasis had given up their land for the project, according to The Indian Express.

“The foundation stone was laid when I was the tribal welfare minister,” Gaude had said. “The project has been stalled. Why is there no progress in the project?”

The BJP leader had claimed that he had been misquoted in the media. However, Sawant had said that action would be taken against him for his “irresponsible statements”, according to The Indian Express.

In response to Gaude’s allegations, the Congress had urged the governor to dissolve the state government citing “rampant corruption”, PTI reported.

Opposition leader Vijai Sardesai said that Gaude had not been removed when there were allegations of corruption against him earlier. “But, now when he raised allegations of corruption in the tribal department, the government acted against him,” added the Goa Forward Party chief.

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