Goa has never had it this lucky as far as direct representation in the union ministry is concerned.Former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar Sunday joined his fellow party peer union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism and Culture and North Goa MP Shripad Naik in the ministry.
But that is not all.
Newly inducted cabinet minister Suresh Prabhu also has a Goa connection. His wife Uma nee Keni, a former journalist, hails from Ribander, a quaint riverside village on the outskirts of Panaji.She and her politician husband are on the board of trustees of Manav Sadhan Vikas Sanstha, a human resource development initiative based in Mumbai.Were Goa luckier, it would have had yet another representation in the union council of minister in Shiv Sena's Rajya Sabha member Anil Desai, who was expected to be inducted until his party put its foot down, withdrew his name and recalled him home from airport as it were.
Desai hails from Khola in Canacona, a remote district in South Goa. Desai still has an ancestral house there and is known to speak fluent Konkani.BJP legislator in Goa, Vishnu Wagh was the first to spot the trend of an increasing Goa connection in the Narendra Modi cabinet, before he tweeted in excitement Sunday."Goa gets double package. Two Goans in ministry. (plus) son-in-law Suresh Prabhu. Anil Desai would have been 4th. Goa ke achche din," he announced from his Twitter handle @vishnuwagh.So did senior editor Rajdeep Sardesai, who also tweeted in glee about the representation of Goans as well as his fellow Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB), namely Parrikar and Prabhu.
Sardesai is also GSB, a tiny but rich and influential social grouping from Goa and the Konkan region."Big day for my Goa. Two GSBs, both talented politicians become full cabinet ministers. Saraswat pride!! @manoharparrikar and Suresh Prabhu," tweeted Sardesai.To which Samir Kelekar, an Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay alumnus of Goan origin, responded on the social networking site saying: "Sick casteist tweet by Rajdeep."Goa did not have any representation in the union ministry during the 10 years of Conrgess-led United Progressive Alliance government from 2004-2014.