Vijai Sardesai Accuses Goa CM Pramod Sawant of ‘Back-Stabbing’ Allies
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has been accused by Goa Forward Party (GFP) president Vijai Sardesai of “back-stabbing” his coalition partners, after Sawant removed Sardesai and two other GFP legislators from the state cabinet. In an interview in Panaji on Tuesday, the former deputy chief minister also asked why 10 Congress MLAs had been brought into the BJP when the government faced no threat.
The cabinet reshuffle
The 10 Congress legislators moved to the BJP earlier this month. Sawant then reorganised his ministry, dropping three ministers from the GFP, which was then an ally, Sardesai among them, as well as one Independent minister.
After these changes the BJP holds 27 seats in the 40-member Goa assembly. The Congress, which won more seats than any other party in the 2017 election, is down to five MLAs.
Sardesai’s criticism
Sardesai said the defections made little sense because the BJP-led administration had been stable and working smoothly, and his party had never expected a mass switch of that scale. He said Sawant’s conduct had bred mistrust among partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The BJP might now have enough numbers to manage without allies, he said, but he described its behaviour as unnatural.
In his view, the Congress MLAs had damaged their own political futures simply so that three GFP members could be removed. “To eliminate three, ten MLAs committed political suicide,” he said.
Comparison with Parrikar
Sardesai contrasted Sawant’s style with that of the late chief minister Manohar Parrikar. He said that when a similar proposal reached Parrikar, the then chief minister firmly insisted that the parties which helped him take power in 2017 would remain with him for the full term. Sardesai added that Parrikar had kept the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) on board in 2012 even though the BJP had enough seats on its own.
What happened next
Pramod Sawant was Chief Minister after the 2022 Goa assembly election, in which the BJP won 20 seats, the Congress 11 and the Aam Aadmi Party 2.
See also: Goa Forward Party | Goa Vidhan Sabha members
Originally published on 24 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.
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