The 15-day monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly will begin from Monday, July 21.
As per the schedule, the first three days will be dedicated to discussions on the State budget, while the remaining 12 days will focus on debates regarding demands for grants for various departments.
According to Mohan Gaonkar, Joint Secretary of the Goa Legislative Assembly, MLAs have submitted 789 starred questions and 3,330 unstarred questions.
Proceedings will include congratulatory and obituary references, calling attention notices, and Zero Hour mention. Approximately 16 government bills, the appropriation bill related to the State budget, and supplementary demands for grants are expected to be tabled. On Private Members’ Day, after the discussions of private member resolutions, debates on demands for grants will follow. Around 15 such resolutions are likely to be tabled.
The session is expected to be stormy, as the Opposition—after a year-long wait—will finally have ample opportunity to hold the State government accountable on various pressing issues. These include concerns about the law and order situation, the Outline Development Plan (ODP), and rising unemployment.
This will be the tenth sitting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government under Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, following the 2022 State elections.
However, signs of disunity have already appeared within the Opposition ahead of the session. Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai and Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) MLA Viresh Borkar skipped a strategy meeting called by Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao. The meeting aimed to coordinate the Opposition’s approach for the session.
Sardesai criticised the timing of the meeting, noting that it was convened too late, with the deadline for submitting questions having nearly passed. Alemao, however, defended the timing, stating that such coordination meetings have traditionally been held after the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting.