CM meets BJP national president, discusses state cabinet reshuffle

Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday met BJP national president Nitin Nabin to discuss the cabinet reshuffle in Goa. One cabinet berth has been vacant since Oct 2025 after the death of agriculture minister Ravi Naik.The decision to fill the cabinet berth is yet to be taken, but there has been buzz in political circles about the cabinet reshuffle ahead of the assembly elections scheduled to be held in Feb 2027.Sawant, along with BJP state president Damodar Naik, met Nabin at the BJP headquarters in Delhi and had a discussion on organisational strengthening, ongoing initiatives and upcoming programmes aimed at further empowering karyakartas and expanding outreach.A few days ago, the chief minister had said that he would soon fill the cabinet berth, which is vacant.Ponda had four ministers when BJP formed govt in 2022—WRD minister Subhash Shirodkar, power minister Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar, former art and culture minister Govind Gaude, and former agriculture minister Ravi Naik.On June 18, 2025, Sawant dropped Gaude from his cabinet after he made serious allegations of corruption in the tribal welfare department, which comes under Sawant.