Cong attempts comeback in politically volatile Goa

More than 20 months after the BJP tripped the Congress in forming a government in Goa, the latter is making all-out efforts to make up for the loss.

As the state politics gets volatile with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar — suffering from a pancreatic ailment — away from Goa, the Congress is trying to throw out the BJP government which had come to power despite the Congress emerging as the single-largest party in the Assembly polls last year.

The Congress submitted a memorandum to Governor Mridula Sinha on Monday, staking claim to form an alternative government. The party, which has 16 members in the 40-member Assembly, urged her not to dissolve the Assembly and instead, invite the party to form the government, Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar said.

“We are on the job. Lots of talks are going on. We want to throw out the BJP government at any cost. Even after the people rejected them, they came to power through the backdoor,” AICC in-charge for Goa A Chella Kumar said.

He was speaking to DH hours after the Congress submitted the memorandum to the governor.

While Parrikar is recuperating at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, the BJP allies have laid bare their political ambitions, seeking a solution to the absence of the chief minister due to his frequent medical trips.

Asked if the Congress was ready to replicate in Goa the experiment it made in Karnataka by propping up a government of JD(S) to prevent the BJP from forming a government, the senior Congress functionary refused to get into the details.

“I cannot say more on this issue. All I can say is we are on the job. We are deliberating on the options,” he said to a question whether the Congress was thinking of extending support to a candidate other than somebody from the party in the eventuality of the Parrikar government collapsing.

On Sunday, the BJP high command had sent three senior leaders — national general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal, B L Santhosh and Vinay Puranik — to Goa to take stock of the situation.

Meanwhile, Ram Lal, who held a meeting with party MLAs, leaders and core committee members of the BJP in Goa, exuded confidence that the state government is stable and all allies of the BJP are sticking with it. He also asserted that nobody demanded a change of leadership.

On Saturday, the MGP had said it was “high time” that Parrikar handed over charge to the senior-most minister in his Cabinet during his absence.

The BJP has 14 MLAs (after one of the 17 Congress MLAs resigned from the party, joined the BJP and won in a re-poll), MGP and GFP have three MLAs each, NCP one and independents three.

The flurry of political activities began in Goa after Parrikar, 62, was admitted to the AIIMS in New Delhi for treatment on Saturday. Parrikar has been under treatment for the last few months in the country and abroad.