the goan I network
PANAJI
Acknowledging the outcome of the trust vote won by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Kavlekar, in a post session press conference however predicted a short life for the new government.
He said it was the first time in the annals of the House that a government has won a motion of confidence with a tally of 20.
“It has never happened before. Never has the number slipped below 21,” Kavlekar said, adding that it is reflective of this government’s
popularity.
The fact that Sawant has permitted two Deputy Chief Ministers also came in for severe criticism and so did the conduct of Governor Mridula Sinha in the period between former chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s death and the installation of Sawant’s cabinet.
A galaxy of leaders who joined Kavlekar, including Digambar Kamat, Ravi Naik and Luizinho Faleiro, predicted turmoil in the current government owing to the differences among cabinet members even as they trained their guns at
Sinha for what they called was her bias.
Sinha drew flak from the Congress leaders for delaying her decision to put in place an alternative government and allowing the BJP to indulge in horse-trading to cobble up a coalition when the Congress already was the single largest party and staked claim.
Kamat recalled that on two occasions when the Prime Ministers had died in office - Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri - the then Presidents had immediately sworn-in Gulzari Lal Nanda as interim PM.
Similarly, Rajiv Gandhi was sworn-in Prime Minister the same day that his mother Indira Gandhi was assassinated, said the lone NCP MLA Churchill Alemao, who has steadfastedly thrown his lot with the Opposition
Congress.
“She called those in the minority to form a government. The BJP had to perform a midnight circus and crack deals with MLAs to
get to the number of 20,”
Kavlekar said.
Pratapsing Rane opined that the governor should have called the single-
largest party to form the government and predicted
instability.
“I have seen many winters and many summers as well. I can confidently say that stability can be brought back only by the Congress,” Rane, who has been member of the House for nearly five decades uninterruptedly since the
early 1970’s.
