New Delhi: The Goa government is in trouble once again after the reshuffle in the Manohar Parrrikar-led coalition ministry. It has left many MLAs passed over for cabinet berths fuming and also angered their supporters who have warned of protests, including a water blockade, or rethinking their support to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Two ailing ministers were dropped earlier this week - urban development minister Francis D’Souza, who is being treated in a New York hospital and power minister Pandurang Madkaikar who suffered a brain stroke earlier in 2018. They were replaced by BJP MLAs Milind Naik and Nilesh Cabral respectively.

The move came after the BJP leadership ruled out a changing an ailling Parrikar, who is being treated for a pancreatic aliment in New Delhi and said that a cabinet reshuffle would take place.

Several other BJP legislators have expressed their dissent at not being considered for ministerial posts.

Bicholim MLA Rajesh Patnekar said: “Bicholim (sub district) did not get a ministry, so the BJP workers here have expressed anger and concern”. He hoped state party president Vinay Tendulkar would come to “quell the anger”.

Aldona MLA Glenn Ticlo said he deserved to be part of the cabinet on account of his “dynamism” and said that people from his constituency wanted him to be a minister in order “to get their work done”. His exclusion had left party workers and other people “absolutely unhappy”, he added.

Goa’s taxi operators have been backing Calangute MLA Michael Lobo for a cabinet berth, failing which they said taxi operators would work against the BJP.

“There are 20,000 taxi operators in Goa. In the coming elections, we will reject the BJP if Michael Lobo is not given a ministry,” North Goa Taxi Driver’s Association president Laxman Korgaonkar said.