the goan I network
PANAJI
Congress is all set to stake claim to form the next government before the governor by Sunday noon. The party which secured 17 seats has claimed the support of independent MLA from Porvorim Rohan Khaunte and lone MLA of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Churchill Alemao taking their numbers to 19.
Congress has convened a meeting of the newly elected Congress Legislative Party on Sunday at 11 am in order to elect the leader of the CLP. Following this, the party will present its resolution to the governor.
The party is in talks with both the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Goa Forward Party for securing their support.
Speaking at Congress House after a short meeting with senior leaders, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijaya Singh stated, “We are grateful to the electorate of Goa for rejecting the non-performing and arrogant BJP government. Although we were expecting clear majority, we have 17 Congress candidates and one independent candidate, whom we had supported. We are talking to both MGP and GFP. Forming a government will not be difficult at all.”
All India Congress Committee has authorised the chairman of screening committee and observer K C Venugopal and Singh to talk to ‘non-BJP MLAs’ in an attempt to secure their support. “There is no question of any compromise on the basic core issues of election manifesto. Congress is looking to cross the figure of 21 with the support of other MLAs in order to secure a stable footing,” Singh declared.
Commenting on Manohar Parrikar’s observations over Congress’ low vote share, Singh said, “Parrikar’s comments only reflect his frustration. Also, when he talks about a fractured mandate and possibility of the BJP forming the government, he should realise that we are closer to majority than the BJP.”
the goan I network
PANAJI
Exuding confidence that Bharatiya Janata Party will stake claim to form the next government in the State, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said that the party is in talks with the smaller parties to form the government.
Addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters in Panaji, he said, “I am very confident of getting the necessary support to form the government. The party will stake claim if it gets enough support. We will definitely decide about it if we manage to get adequate number of supporting letters. Many of them have expressed willingness to be associated with the BJP and not the Congress.”
Speaking further, he said, “We accept the verdict of the people. Because there is a substantial number of smaller parties which have been voted for including independents, we await their response. It’s a fractured mandate and let us see what happens. As the chief minister said, it is only the BJP which has the highest vote share.
Stating that Goans have given a fractured mandate, he pointed out that BJP has received the highest vote share among all political parties.
“The mandate is fractured. As far as the vote share is concerned, we have got more percentage than others despite contesting lesser seats. It is luck factor that we did not manage to get more seats. Ultimately no one has majority so definitely other parties which are there need to be consulted. We are definitely in consultation with them and if they agree things can be worked out. The ‘other’ components who have been elected have to be taken into consideration.”
He also pointed out that it was the individual incumbency which resulted into lesser number of seats for BJP. “Goa is a very small state and the constituencies too are small. So, all factors including personal relations count. Therefore there are certain negativities developed against an individual candidate which impact the elections. We have risen from zero to 21 in the past. And now we will from 13 to 21 in near future,” he said.
Agreeing that coalition affects the stability of the government, he said, “But I think if BJP acts as the core group, it can provide that stability. In case of fractured mandate, everyone is in the run to form the government and presently BJP is in the best position to form the government.”
We are in no hurry to join any govt, our agenda is Goemkarponn: GFP
PANAJI: The political party with the highest strike rate of 75 per cent, Goa Forward Party, has confirmed that it’s supremo Vijai Sardessai is in talks with the Congress in order to form the government. However, the young party continues to stand it’s ground and has declared that it would rather take to the opposition benches instead of giving up on its agenda.
Commenting on the development, President of Goa Forward Party Prabhakar Timble stated, “Issues regarding any alliance or support will be decided by the Political Affairs Committee of the party on Sunday. No political party should take our support for granted. We are in no hurry to join the government and we will love to be in opposition to guard Goemkarponn.”
Timble further added that GFP’s next move would be to ensure that any government conducts itself as ‘goemkarvadi sarkar’. Meanwhile, it was learnt that GFP would now stand as a recognised political party by the
Election Commission of India and would be permanently allotted the election symbol
of coconut.
