PORVORIM: All it took was 15 minutes of a Legislative Assembly session where no business was transacted for the government to comply with the Constitutional mandate that the House has to meet at least once every six month. Interestingly, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar called it ‘against the Constitution’.
On Tuesday, Goa Governor Mridula Sinha addressed the 15-minute long ‘technical session’ of the Legislative Assembly, and informed the 27 MLAs present that the session was summoned to meet the Constitutional requirements. This was perhaps the first instance in Indian history, where an Assembly has met, though a new House has been voted for but the election results are yet to be declared.
In her four-minute speech, the Governor broke from the tradition of speaking on the government’s policies and achievements and said, “The session has been summoned to comply with the Constitutional mandate under Article 174 (1),” the Governor said.
Sinha informed that since the election to the State Assembly has already been held on February 4 and the counting of votes is scheduled on March 11, she would refrain from making any mention of the policies and achievements of the government.
While delivering the address, Sinha congratulated the members for ensuring smooth, free and fair election and the people for enthusiastically participating in the election leading to a record turnout of about 83 percent.
Deputy Speaker Vishnu Wagh and Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza could not attend the session due to their ill health. Congress MLAs Vishwajit Rane, Chandrakant Kavlekar and Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte were also not present for the session. Interestingly, Kavlekar reached the Assembly complex, only after the Governor had concluded her address and the session had ended.
