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Give up 'lifetime' cabinet post gracefully: Gundu Rao to ex Goa CM

Rane was supposed to contest the 2022 state assembly polls but had to withdraw from the contest following a public rebuke by his son
Last Updated 04 May 2022, 12:30 IST

With the Bombay High Court like to rule soon on the constitutional validity of the post of 'lifetime cabinet status' bestowed on Goa's longest-serving chief minister Pratapsingh Rane, AICC's Goa in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao has urged the veteran Congress leader to reject the controversial position gracefully.

"For a man of Shri Pratapsing(h) Rane's stature, he should gracefully reject this #Cabinetstatus conferred. Neither does he require it nor will it enhance his status. It sets a bad precedent & I'm sure it's not permissible as per law. So why suffer the humiliation of a #HC order," Rao, a former Karnataka Congress president tweeted.

Rane was one of the longest-serving chief ministers of the state, whose son Vishwajit is currently a Health Minister in the BJP-led coalition government. His daughter-in-law Deviya is also a BJP MLA.

Rane was supposed to contest the 2022 state assembly polls but had to withdraw from the contest following a public rebuke by his son. The BJP had later promised to offer Rane a lifetime cabinet status and a notification to the effect was issued in April this year.

The post has been challenged by lawyer and activist Aires Rodrigues, who has questioned the constitutional validity of the post, which is expected to cost the state exchequer nearly a crore every year in terms of staff allocation and expenses.

Rane who has been made a respondent in the petition filed before the Bombay High Court bench in Goa has said that he would leave it to the court to examine the legality of the post.

With the Court scheduled to hear the case again on June 21, the state government on Wednesday told the HC, that it would defer appointing designated staffers for Rane (as a cabinet minister entitlement) until the HC formally rules on the matter.

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(Published 04 May 2022, 12:30 IST)

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