The ten ministers, (excluding the chief minister), will have to gear-up to defend themselves on the floor of the House for the second time since Parrikar’s departure. Opposition and Ruling MLAs are set to corner ministers on major debatable public interest issues.
Be it the Regional Plan, ODP, proposed marinas, Tiracol golf course or the JICA scam, the ministers concerned will have to handle the pressure, as unlike Parrikar, his successor Laxmikant Parsekar believes in the mantra of ‘self defence’.
In the eight assembly sessions during his chief ministership, Parrikar used to be the “protector” and “saviour” to his ministers, while Parsekar feels this is not for him to do.
“Chief Minister is of the view that every minister has been given certain responsibilities he is bound to follow. Being a minister they need to be ready for every question and allegation and need to know how to defend,” a source close to the BJP said.
Parsekar in his first media interaction on taking charge as CM said he wanted his ministers to be self dependent and that he would not interfere in their functioning unless circumstances demanded this.
Parsekar kept his words and this was evident during the first Assembly session after he took office that was held in March. It was the first session, in three years, where the Opposition and Ruling MLAs overpowered the government. Ministers, including Alina Saldanha, Sudin Dhavalikar, Dilip Parulekar, who were often protected by Parrikar, where seen on the backfoot during the Budget session.
Meanwhile, the Opposition benches are set to take on the government on the controversies surrounding the Tiracol golf course project, Louis Berger bribery scam and demand Industries Minister Mahadev Naik’s resignation and the 6 lakh sq mts plot allotment to Defence Ministry.
On the other hand, the Ruling group is gearing up to target the government demanding an inquiry into the Louis Berger consultancy works including JICA, Mopa airport and Sea-link project – all undertaken during the Congress regime.
