D’Souza, elected from Vasco, told Deccan Herald that he was gearing up his supporters to rally behind him. He said he had “merely met some Congress MLAs to discuss some coalition issues,” and this in no way constituted anti-party activities.
Though Tourism Minister Nilkanth Harlankar (also of the NCP) was also at the meeting with a group of Congress ministers and MLAs, the NCP appears to have elected to act against D’Souza alone to make an example of him.
(Published 19 December 2010, 17:09 IST)