With the induction of former chief minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar in the Union Cabinet on Sunday, Goa's representation at the Centre has gained weight. It's for the first time that a small state like Goa has got two ministers in the central government. Also, this is the first time that a Goan has gone on to become a cabinet minister.
North Goa MP Shripad Naik is the union minister of state for tourism, while Parrikar who was sworn-in on Sunday got the coveted defence portfolio in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet. Parrikar will be in the top four in the cabinet by virtue of being the defence minister, the other important ministers are finance Arun Jaitley, home minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
Eduardo Faleiro after getting elected for the third time in 1984, went to become union minister of state for external affairs in May 1986 and was the first Goan MP to get a berth in the central government albeit as a junior minister.
Faleiro also became a junior minister in the Congress government in June 1991. He was MoS for external affairs till January 1993. Thereafter he was appointed MoS for chemicals and fertilizers, ocean development, electronics and parliamentary affairs. He remained in office till April 1996.
Second Goan MP to get a portfolio in central government was Ramakant Khalap under the United Front government led by H D Deve Gowda in 1996. He was minister of state for law and justice for a brief period of ten months.
After the dry spell of five years, BJP MP Shripad Naik became a MoS in Atal Behari Vajpayee government in 2002-2004. Under Vajpayee's government, Naik was minister for agriculture, shipping, civil aviation, road transport and highways and finance (revenue).
Churchill Alemao represented Goa twice in the Parliament, in 1996 and 2004. He resigned in 2007 as Congress MP to contest assembly election by forming a separate front, Save Goa Front.
In November 2007 by-election, Francisco Sardinha was elected MP from South Goa on Congress ticket and re-elected again in 2009 but central ministerial posts remained elusive to the MPs until May 2014.
