Team Herald
PANJIM: With BJP making every possible effort to stay in power amidst speculation of a leadership change, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee has thrown an open challenge to the coalition government to convene the Legislative Assembly session and win a confidence vote.
The party has also dared BJP to parade its 14 MLAs, just as all Congress MLAs had visited the Raj Bhavan to stake claim to form the government.
“The BJP is not desperate because their Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is in the hospital. The real desperation is because the health of the whole party is diseased and the coalition government has run into minority having no numbers,” GPCC president Girish Chodankar said, accusing the BJP of buying time to manufacture majority.
He calculated that with three BJP ministers, including the CM in hospital, and one MLA as the Speaker, the actual strength of the BJP has been reduced to 10 in the Assembly.
“Secondly, the coalition partners had supported only Parrikar and not the BJP, when this unholy alliance came to power against the will of the people of Goa. The political uncertainty has arisen because BJP cannot provide a consensus candidate, who could replace Parrikar and is acceptable to the allies,” he said.
Chodankar added, “In fact the open statements made by the MGP that they will support only Parrikar as CM is enough proof that the government collapses the minute Parrikar steps down as the CM. The situation is that this ‘government in minority’ should actually be dismissed by the Governor and at least now the single largest Congress should be invited to form the government. The Congress is confident of proving its majority on the floor of the House.”
Earlier, BJP President Vinay Tendulkar had challenged Congress to declare the name of their leader for the CM’s post and alleged that the opposition was actually not united.
Chodankar shot back stating it is BJP that cannot name any one minister as the in-charge of the government; it is neither appointing an acting CM or Dy CM; asking the Congress to name a leader for CM’s chair is a ‘cruel joke on Goans’.
