Sudin Dhavalikar


Ramkrishna alias Sudin Madhav Dhavalikar is an Indian politician and a senior leader of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. He is a six-term member of the Goa Legislative Assembly, representing the Marcaim constituency since 1999. Dhavalikar also served as a deputy Chief Minister of Goa.

Ministry portfolios

He has been a Minister in various governments for over 15 years, holding important portfolios by forming alliances with various political parties.
Took officeLeft officePortfolios HeldChief MinisterParty
3 June 200231 January 2005P.W.D., Archives & Archaeology, Museum, and FisheriesManohar ParrikarBJP
3 February 20054 March 2005Public Works Department, Fisheries, Archives & Archaeology, and MuseumManohar ParrikarBJP
7 June 20055 June 2007Public Works Department, Fisheries, Archives & Archaeology, Museum, and Co-operationShri Pratapsingh RaneINC
8 June 200728 July 2007Public Works Department, and Science & TechnologyShri Pratapsingh RaneINC
14 March 20081 February 2012Transport, River Navigation Department, and Social WelfareDigambar KamatINC
9 March 20128 November 2014Public Works Department, Transport, and River NavigationManohar ParrikarBJP
8 November 201412 December 2016Public Works Department, Transport, and River NavigationLaxmikant ParsekarBJP
20 March 201717 March 2019Public Works Department, Transport, River Navigation, and MuseumManohar ParrikarBJP
18 March 201927 March 2019Public Works Department, Transport, River Navigation, and MuseumPramod SawantBJP
9 April 2022PresentPower, New & Renewable Energy, and HousingPramod SawantBJP

On 27 March 2019, he was dropped from the Cabinet of Ministers as the Deputy Chief Minister, as well as the ruling alliance, after two MGP MLAs broke away from the party and joined the ruling BJP, merging the MGP legislative party into the BJP. A disqualification plea of the two breakaway MGP MLAs, along with 10 other congress MLAs was dismissed by the High Court of Bombay at Goa.

Career

Dhavalikar is a senior leader of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, Goa's first ruling party after the end of Portuguese rule in 1961. He first joined the party in the early 1990s. He has played a pivotal role in survival and success of the party for last 20 years.

Controversy

In 2015, two members of Aam Aadmi Party – Pradip Ghadi Amonkar and Mujahid Rizvi – alleged that Dhavalikar, while contesting the previous Assembly election, had sworn a false affidavit that he is a BSc graduate. They claimed that Sudin Dhavalikar had lied in his sworn affidavit regarding his educational qualification. The aggrieved approached the court as they claimed that Ponda police had declined to register an FIR against Dhavalikar. After inquiring with the Bombay University, Ponda police submitted in the court that Dhavalikar's BSc degree is genuine. The Ponda court promptly dismissed the case noting that JMFC Apurva Nagvekar did not find any merit in the application made by the aggrieved party.