PANAJI
In first signs of unity, the politically disjointed and numerically reduced Opposition in the Goa legislative assembly on Monday decided to petition Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar against his decision to reduce the winter session to a mere four-day affair.
All seven legislators left in the Opposition benches after the mid-September switch over by eight Congress legislators to the treasury benches, met at the invitation of Opposition Leader Yuri Alemao at the latter's chamber in the Assembly Complex where sources said some floor-coordination strategies were worked out.
Apart from Alemao and his two Congress colleagues -- Carlos Ferreira-Alvares and Altone D'Costa -- the meeting was also attended by Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Vijai Sardesai of Goa Forward Party and Viresh Borkar of the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP).
The Opposition is expected to meet Tawadkar and petition him against the decision to restrict the session to just four days.
Earlier last week, the Opposition Leader had hinted that all seven MLAs would meet on Boxing Day (December 26) to chalk out strategy to tackle what he called were attempts by the government to suppress the Opposition's voice by convening a short session.
"Hum Saat Saath Hai, Rahenge," Alemao had tweeted, even as he said he had spoken personally to all his six colleagues from the Opposition to attend the Monday meet.
The show of unity among the Opposition, meanwhile, appears tentative given its fragmentation on political party lines -- Congress (3), AAP (2) and one each of belonging to the GFP and RGP.
Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai has already summoned the Assembly for a four-day winter session from January 16.
It will commence with the customary address of the governor since it will be the first session of the House in the New Year.
Meanwhile, Legislature Department sources said, just 13 MLAs, have tabled questions for the opening day. Of these, only three are from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- Digambar Kamat, Deviya Rane and Rajesh Phaldesai.
All seven Opposition MLAs and the three Independent legislators supporting the government -- Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, Dr Chandrakant Shetye and Anton Vas -- have served notices of starred questions for the opening day.
Vas is the only exception who has filed just one starred question while all other MLAs have tabled three questions apiece.
