the goan I network
PANAJI
The feud between PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar and Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude which manifested itself in an ugly spat between the two at the last Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and held on Thursday last, escalated on Sunday.
Gaude, who has attracted the wrath of Dhavalikar-led MGP leaders, called members of the ruling coalition “dogs” and “slaves”, and challenged them to confront him directly instead of attacking him behind his back.
The MGP, which is a constituent of the BJP-led coalition government, meanwhile has given Parrikar a four-day deadline to sack Gaude citing his alleged abusive attack on Dhavalikar during last week’s Cabinet meeting. The deadline ends on Monday.
On Sunday, Gaude in pointed reference to MGP members asking for his head, said: “I am a tiger. The dogs are barking from a distance... People who are slaves and ‘ghulams’ of Dhavalikar brothers are only barking.”
Gaude has a running feud with Dhavalikar’s brother Deepak, who is also the MGP president. The rivalry goes back to the 2012 Assembly election when Deepak just about managed to retain the Priol seat by a narrow margin following a spirited fight at the hustings from an ‘Independent’ Gaude.
In the subsequent election in 2017, Gaude again as an ‘Independent’ defeated Deepak by a comfortable 4,000-plus vote margin but ended up sharing space with the senior Dhavalikar in the Cabinet led by Parrikar.
At last Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Gaude allegedly launched a scathing verbal attack against Dhavalikar and accused him of politically interfering in his constituency on behalf of his brother. Gaude is said to have also used ‘unparliamentary’ expressions, including on casteist lines, to attack Dhavalikar.
Gaude, meanwhile, said on Sunday that he did not abuse Dhavalikar and alleged that he is being targeted by the MGP because of turf war between him and the party over Priol constituency.
He said MGP would take Goa “to hell” and appealed to people to beware of them.
