Goa Govt shaky as Cong splits

PANAJI. NOV 19: The five-month long Luizinho Faleiro government in Goa is on the verge of collapse with at least eleven legislators including prominent ministers breaking away from the Congress party. The rebels lead by Minister Fransisco Sardinha, Agriculture Minister Dayanand Narvekar, Education Minister Subash Shirodkar, Transport Minister Somnath Zuwarkar and seven other MLAs have staked the claim to form an alternative government. They are being supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party with 10 MLAs, an independent and former chief minister Wilfred D’Souza, the lone leader of the Nationalist Congress Party.

The breakaway group is trying to pull in more members from the ruling group before Faleiro has time to react. “Prakash Velip (who has split from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party to join the Congress two months ago) is still undecided about joining us,” Zuwarkar told journalists outside the Speaker Pratapsinh Rane’s office where the breakaway group were holed up.

The breakaway group is expectedto elect Sardinha as its leader. Members of the BJP are however discussing the possibility of joining the new government.

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Chief Minister Faleiro, who was desperately trying to hold his flock together at his Altinho residence, put on a brave front before journalists. “All the MLAs are with me, there is no split,” he insisted.

The first hint of the political crisis in Goa came on Thursday afternoon when deputy speaker Arecio D’Souza resigned from his post. He has now cast his lot with the breakaway group.

BJP nod for Govt
New Delhi: Following the collapse of the Congress government the BJP TOP brass on Friday evening gave the go-ahead to its state unit to support an alternative government.

The BJP, which has 10 MLAs contacted BJP general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu. The top leaders reportedly told him to direct the state unit to support an alternative government .