PANAJI
Manohar Parrikar led BJP coalition government sailed through at in the vote of confidence even as Vishwajit Rane remained absent from the house during the vote of confidence.
The coalition which was expected to sail through in the face of a Congress that has resigned to its fate won the vote 22-16 even as the party had some nervous moments as the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA Deepak Pauskar who wasn’t in the house as the voting was being held and had to be called in.
It was however the Congress that was left red faced as its Valpoi legislator Vishwajit Rane, who none of the Congress MLAs saw leave, made his way out of the house and the assembly complex as Congress legislators frantically asked the wardens to search for him in the opposition lobbies only to return
empty handed.
The Congress did attempt to raise a protest with Pratapsingh Rane seeking to raise a point of order but was completely ignored by the Speaker Siddharth Kuncalienkar. Several other howls of protests too were ignored by the Speaker and asked those who supported the motion to rise. It automatically forced all the Congressmen to sit down.
The Congress Legislature Party took more than two hours to emerge from the Opposition lobby as the party continued to deliberate on what went wrong in the assembly.
Curiously, the Congress members appeared united and Vishwajit Rane while entering the assembly complex said: “I’m with the Congress, as of now. I will vote with the Congress.”
The session began with lots of handshakes and hugs around with ruling and opposition leaders retaining the courtesy to remain cordial despite the undercurrents and rumblings.
It was however not to be. The Congress which promised to prove its majority on the floor of the house, resigned to its fate after having failed in its attempts to bring legislators to its side.
“I blame the seniors for this. But we will be a good opposition,” Congress legislator Reginaldo Lourenço said.
