Team Herald
PANJIM: Congress Legislative Party (CLP) on Tuesday demanded a special one-day assembly session to take a floor test that would determine the fate of the present coalition government. The Congress MLAs, except for Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, met Goa Governor Mridula Sinha demanding that not only a floor test be called for but to also ensure that President’s Rule is not imposed in Goa.
“It is just 18 months of the government, and we do not want any election or dissolution of the Legislative Assembly. We have asked the Governor for a special one-day Assembly session wherein we will prove our majority on the Floor of the House,” Leader of the Opposition Chandrakant Kavalekar told the media after nearly an hour long meeting with the Governor at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday evening.
The Congress MLAs, led by Kavalekar, claimed that the party continues to be the single largest party in the Assembly and challenged BJP to prove their majority.
On being asked who was the CM candidate, the Quepem MLA said that this would be disclosed during the floor test. “We will reveal our CM candidate during the floor test. Congress has no differences over the CM candidature unlike the ruling coalition. We are unanimous about who will head the State once given the opportunity to prove our majority in the House,” he responded.
The Governor, the MLAs said, has assured to revert on their demands within 3 to 4 days. “She will go by the Constitution and get back to us in 3 or 4 days,” ex-CM Digambar Kamat told reporters.
Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro quoting from their interaction with Sinha said, “She has accepted there is a problem (in the coalition government) and different groups are speaking differently. She will investigate and take a stock of the situation. She has assured there won’t be President’s Rule in the State.”
Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro added, “She said the mistake done the last time, during the previous Governor’s tenure, won’t be repeated.”
The delegation could not meet Sinha on Monday as she was not in the State. Sinha met Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar at AIIMS, Delhi, before returning to Goa.
