the goan I network
PANAJI
Amidst the fluid political situation emerging from an impending leadership change in the ruling coalition owing to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s illness, the contrasting calm in the Opposition Congress camp has perplexed observers.
Barring a statement sans bite from Goa Pradesh Congress Committee chief Girish Chodankar to the effect that the Governor should give the Congress an opportunity to form a stable government in the prevailing chaos, almost every other party leader of note is missing and aloof from the power play in progress.
Opposition Leader, Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar, hasn’t commented on the frenzied activity of the last two days. Also, most of its other heavyweights including former chief ministers Pratapsing Rane, Ravi Naik and Luizinho Faleiro have remained silent spectators to the developments on the other side of the political aisle.
Another former chief minister from the Congress ranks, Digambar Kamat, is perhaps the only leader who caused some flutter when a number of MLAs lined up at his home on Friday but it was dismissed as merely courtesy visits for Ganesh Chaturthi.
Chodankar, meanwhile, in the statement issued late Saturday evening said the party was “keenly watching” the political developments unfolding in Goa while the Chief Minister was rushed to AIIMS for treatment.
“The greed for power of the BJP and its allies is exposed,” Chodankar said, adding that his party sympathises with Parrikar, only as far as his health was concerned.
“His act of snatching away the mandate given to the Congress in the 2017 and his total mismanagement of mining, formalin, food adulteration, pollution, CRZ, TCP, Casino, unemployment etc had already driven Goa to the edge,” Chodankar said.
This current confusion of epic proportions is only going to hurt the prospects of the State further, especially when the Bharatiya Janata Party, does not even have a second-in-command to succeed Parrikar in his absence, he said.
“The Congress will not hesitate to come forward and take responsibility to form a government,” Chodankar said, adding that they have already cautioned the Governor about a possible ploy by the BJP to fraudulently impose President’s Rule through the backdoor.
