All is not over: NCP
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, MARCH 29
With less than two days remaining for the crucial Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) coordination committee meeting, Revenue Minister and leader of NCP’s legislative wing in the Goa assembly has said that all the issues would be raised at the meeting.
He was reacting to a statement made by president of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee Subhash Shirodkar that the leadership issue is over and the remaining issues would be settled amicably.
Shirodkar was quoted as saying in Margao in the midst of the assembly session that “I do not know at what level but the leadership issue is resolved”
“Not a single issue has been resolved so far”, Jose Philip D’Souza said adding that it was in the interest of the state that the NCP high command decided that we support the finance bill. Shirodkar’s statement is “null and void”, D’souza told this paper.
He said all the issues would be taken up at the coordination committee meeting on Wednesday. He, however, declined to specify any major issues which they would be insisting on.
Sources in the ruling coalition however said that the G7 may once again up the demand for change of leadership but it’s a big question whether the high commands of both parties would agree to it. This is also because some members of G7, for what ever reason, are not very adamant on the demand. “They have other issues to be resolved”, the sources said indicating that these include some chairmanships and at the most change of portfolios. The meeting is scheduled on March 31 morning in Mumbai.
After much hype, the G7 reached an anti-climax a week ago when the Congress-NCP coordination committee at midnight decided to first get the budget passed and then sit again to resolve the pending issues
