NT NETWORK
PANAJI
With Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar being unable to perform his duties in view of he being afflicted with pancreatic ailment and the functioning of the government having been paralysed, the Congress on Monday demanded that the BJP-led government be dismissed even as it staked claim to form the next government in Goa.
The Chief Minister, who returned from United States of America after receiving treatment for his ailment there, has since been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after he developed some complications.
All the 16 Congress MLAs met in the state assembly complex at Porvorim and 14 out of the 16 MLAs headed to the Raj Bhavan in the afternoon to meet Governor Mridula Sinha. They, however, could not meet the Governor, as she was out of station. The Congress MLAs submitted a memorandum to her office to stake claim and also sought her appointment at the earliest.
“In view of the current prevailing situation where Manohar Parrikar has lost the moral right to continue in office due to his health problems and given the fact that the state government functioning has come to a grinding halt, the Indian National Congress is staking claim to form a
strong, stable and functional government,” states the memorandum submitted to the Governor’s office by Congress.
“We demand that the government headed by Manohar Parrikar be dismissed forthwith and we be given an opportunity to form an alternate government,” it reads further.
Interacting with media persons along with party MLAs at Raj Bhavan, Congress legislature party leader Chandrakant Kavlekar said the Governor should invite Congress to form the government, adding that they (Congress and its allies) were ready to prove the majority on the floor of the House.
“This is the right time for the Governor to rectify her mistake which she made in the past. We have reiterated our demand that we being the single largest party in the assembly should be invited to form the government,” said Kavlekar.
This is the third time that Congress has staked its claim for formation of government in the last four months. On May 18, 2018, the MLAs had marched to the Raj Bhavan and had urged the Governor to follow the footsteps of her counterpart in Karnataka who had invited BJP to form the government as they had emerged single largest party in the 2018 Karnataka elections. The Governor, however, did not consider their request. The Congress again approached the Governor with a similar request earlier this month.
“We don’t have three ministers in the state including Chief Minister, we don’t even have the Governor in the state… There is a vacuum and in this situation the Governor on her return to the state should dismiss the government led by Bharatiya Janata Party and invite us to form the government,” said Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro.
He said that the Congress has the majority support of more than 21 MLAs in the assembly and can prove it on the floor of the assembly.
The opposition party, in another memorandum submitted to the Governor’s office, urged the Governor not to consider any recommendation for dissolution of the state legislative assembly, if it comes to her. The Congress said that there is a possibility of such a situation in view of internal fighting in the ruling alliance and illness of Parrikar.
The party also said, “We also apprehend that false letters or statements may be placed attributing to leaders of the Congress, claiming that there is a desire on the part of the Congress to accept the recommendation for dissolution of the assembly. This is not true and that it should not be accepted without resorting to a floor test.”
