Porvorim: Environment, Captain of Ports, Law and Judiciary and Legislative Affairs minister Aleixo Sequeira on Wednesday resigned from the cabinet, citing personal reasons.
His resignation will pave way for the induction of Margao MLA Digambar Kamat in the cabinet. The swearing in of Kamat is expected to be held on Thursday.
Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar is expected to resign on Thursday morning and later join the swearing in.
Meanwhile, Sequeira tendered his resignation to chief minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday afternoon.
The 68-year-old MLA from Nuvem Assembly constituency was sworn in as a minister Sawant-led cabinet in November, 2023 replacing then State minister Nilesh Cabral.
“I am resigning from the cabinet on personal grounds,” Sequeira told reporters at Mantralaya, Porvorim.
Speaking to reporters, he said that he received wholehearted support from the chief minister during his tenure as the minister.
Sequeira had contested the 2022 Goa legislative assembly election on congress ticket but later joined BJP along with seven others in September, 2022.
He began his political journey with the Youth Congress and rose through the party’s ranks before being first elected to the Goa Legislative Assembly in 1994 from the Loutolim constituency.
Sequeira retained the Loutolim seat in consecutive elections until 2007.
After the 2008 delimitation, Sequeira contested from the Nuvem constituency and faced defeat in 2012. He made a political comeback by winning the 2022 Assembly election from Nuvem as a Congress candidate, defeating his nearest rival by over 4,300 votes.
In his political career, Sequeira has held positions like Deputy Speaker in the year 1999 and Cabinet Minister under CM Digambar Kamat (2007–2012).
