RELEASING ON 10th AUGUST 2007 in KUWAIT
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: Mr Manohar Parrikar addressing the media along with BJP MLAs and alliance partners at a city hotel.Salil Keshkamat
Parrikar claims he has the majority
NT Staff
Reporter
Panaji, July 25 In a shocking late night development, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party withdrew support to the Congress-led coalition and the Bharatiya Janata Party along with the support of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, United Goans Democratic Party, Save Goa Front and Independent, Mr Anil Salgaocar was all set to form the government on the back of the resignations faxed by the Santa Cruz MLA, Ms Victoria Fernandes from the Congress party and the assembly.
The press conference was addressed by BJP leader, Mr Manohar Parrikar, MGP’s Mr Ramkrishna Dhavalikar as well as the SGF president, Mr Churchill Alemao, Ms Victoria Fernandes and Mr Anil Salgaocar.
The Panaji MLA, Mr Manohar Parrikar claiming
to be the leader of the group, said that they had already faxed their claim to form the government to the Governor, Mr S C Jamir as the Congress-led government was reduced to a minority.
He said that they would be personally meeting the Governor on Thursday morning.
He also said that only one Congress MLA, Ms Victoria Fernandes had resigned and so the de facto strength of the House was 39.
Mr Parrikar said that he has the support of two SGF MLAs, an UGDP MLA, two MGP MLAs and an Independent MLA. Expressing confidence of forming the government, Mr Parrikar said that he was not forming the government with the support of the Congress MLAs.
When asked if any more Congress MLAs would be supporting them by resigning he said, “Wait and watch and everything would be clear by Thursday afternoon.”
Under the banner ‘Aam Admi’, Mr Parrikar said that the present government was not functioning and for the past two months nothing had been moving ahead. “The Digambar-led government has been reduced to a minority and so he should resign or we will defeat him on the floor of the House,” he added.
When asked about the status of the MGP, Mr Parrikar said that the MGP had sent faxes withdrawing support to the present government. Mr Ramkrishna Dhavalikar has also faxed his resignation from the ministry, he added.
Most of the BJP MLAs were present. Also present were the
MGP president, Mr Pandurang Raut and the BJP central observer, Mr Rudy Pratap Singh.
Mr Ramkrishna Dhavalikar said that he had joined the Congress coalition as they wanted good governance, but he had been watching the governance for sometime now and found that it was basically non-functional.
“At even at this moment the portfolios have not been finalised and I feel that this cannot continue,” he added. Mr Dhavalikar further said, “I was always against the Congress party till the assembly elections, but when we extended support to the Congress, we were not treated fairly well. I now personally feel that we should not continue with Mr Digambar and the Congress party.”
He stated that the new coalition would be stable as there
was cooperation between the partners.
Mr Churchill Alemao said that he hoped for good governance and that was final. With regard to the Mopa airport issue, he said that all his 7 demands, including the scrapping of the Mopa airport, would be taken care of by the new government and claimed that Dabolim would be developed.
The industrialist and Independent MLA from Sanvordem, Mr Anil Salgaocar said that he had supported the Congress government with the hope that Mr Digambar Kamat would independently safeguard the state. “During the assembly session various demands were placed forward but nothing seemed to move forward,” he added.
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Congress humiliated me, says Victoria
NT Staff Reporter
Panaji, July 25 The lone woman Congress MLA, Ms Victoria Fernandes submitted her resignation from the Congress party and the assembly thus reducing the strength of the assembly to 39.Expressing her displeasure over the treatment meted out by the Congress government, Ms Fernandes said that she has always supported the Congress party and when she was elected she was given all assurances and promises of high posts, but they merely remained assurances.
“But I was humiliated and this was the injustice meted out towards the
lone woman Congress MLA,” she added.
Being the lone woman Congress MLA, ministry could have been given to me but it was not done. “Forget about a ministerial berth, there were so many corporations but none was entrusted to me,” she lamented.
Ms Fernandes alleged that the Congress party members have no mannerisms and ethics. “I have trust that the Goans will get good governance with the formation of a new government under the leadership of Mr Parrikar,” she concluded.
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MLAs refusal to bite bait averted
fall of govt
NT Staff Reporter
Panaji, July 25 The last moment change of heart by Congress MLA from Curchorem, Mr Shyam Satardekar, and refusal of others who were approached with a “bait” of amounts ranging from Rs 15 to Rs 20 crore, prevented the collapse of Congress led-government headed by Mr Digambar Kamat, yesterday.
According to highly placed sources, those who plotted the “downfall” of the government held a meeting at the residence of an officer on special duty to a minister in the Kamat cabinet at government quarters in Altinho, on Monday evening.
The meeting was attended by two ministers (including one of Congress party)
in the government, besides Mr Churchill Alemao, Mr Atanasio Monserrate, Mr Manohar Parrikar, Mr Rudolf Fernandes (son of St Cruz MLA – Ms Victoria Fernandes), Mr Pandurang Dhavalikar and two staunch supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party and it was decided to topple the government by making Congress MLAs resign their seats.
The sources said that leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Save Goa Front and the lone UGDP MLA assured all those who were to switch sides that besides the “cash reward” they would also be made ministers in the new cabinet to be headed by Mr Parrikar. As per the agreement between them Mr Churchill Alemao was to be the deputy to Mr Parrikar, while the third sport was to go to Mr Monserrate.
A non-Congress minister, who was part of the toppling game, assured those gathered at the
meeting that he would ensure that Mr Vishwajit Rane, the Health Minister, would join them later. He took the responsibility of getting the junior Rane to join the new formation only to be rebuffed by the later, said the sources, which was also a reason behind the “failed” coup.
The sources said that there was desperation in the opposition camp and that they were ready to part with any amount of cash to “buy” the MLAs to get back into power. They also used “blackmailing” tactics for the purpose, the sources added.
The sources further said that while Mr Parrikar was attempting to prove his leadership that he still wielded magic to win over his enemies and help the party “regain” the lost glory, Mr Monserrate wants to be at the helm of affairs of the town and country planning department.
Mr Churchill Alemao, they said, has become more desperate for power and that having failed to win the “heart” of Congress leadership by offering issue based support he put his brother to take up his case, only to fail in his latest attempt. It is quite well-known in the political circles that younger Alemao has been trying hard to rehabilitate his elder brother.
According to the sources, Mr Silveira refused the offer made to him and walked away from associating with the toppling game. Later Mr Satardekar also gave up his plans to associate with any move to topple the government on learning that he was being taken for a ride, said the sources adding that much before he came to the assembly he called up the Chief Minister to say that he was behind him.
The plotters of toppling game, except Mr Churchill Alemao, were left with only Ms Victoria Fernandes and as they failed to garner support to reduce the Congress-led government to minority, they beat a hasty retreat and one of them rushed to the assembly.
Having failed to dislodge the government the “plotters” of the coup met late in the evening to take stock of the situation. The meeting was attended by the Alemao brothers, Mr Parrikar, Mr Monserrate and Ms Fernandes after the end of the assembly session.
The sources said that every Congress MLA present at the meeting convened by the Chief Minister has assured to stand by him and not associate themselves with any move to cause instability in the state in future.
The sources said that later in the evening the Power Minister, Mr Aleixo Sequeira and Mr Agnelo Fernandes, were seen in the company of Mr Joaquim Alemao in a stared here hotel and helped diffuse the situation.
Meanwhile, the Revenue Minister, Mr Jose Philip D’Souza urged the opposition to desist from making moves to topple the government saying that instability would be counter-productive to the progress of the state and its people.
“Give us time to perform for at least two to three years and then see our performance,” he told the House during reply to debate on demands.
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Parrikar warns against worsening malaria situation in state
NT Staff Reporter
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Panaji, July 25 The leader of opposition, Mr Manohar Parrikar today warned against the worsening malaria situation in the state and cautioned the Health Minister to be wary of wrong figures given by the government health services.Speaking on the demands for grants for health, Mr Parrikar said that since June 2006 upto June 2007, there was a record high of over 7500 cases of malaria in Goa of which there were 1800 cases of falciparum. For the month of July upto July 14, there were 1491 cases of which there were 412 cases of falciparum, which showed that the cases of falciparum were increasing in Goa. He said the government figures show less incidence of malaria and stated that he had
obtained his figures from the National Vector Borne Diseases Programme, which was a central government programme. Commending the Health Minister for the enthusiasm he was putting into his job, Mr Parrikar said an important challenge before the minister was the collection of correct data from the department, because often wrong figures are given to ministers.
Mr Parrikar also stated that once the Universal Mediclaim Scheme is finalised, it will take a lot of load off the main government hospitals like the Goa Medical College at Bambolim. He suggested the smaller surgeries costing Rs 5000 or Rs 10,000 could be allotted to private hospitals and this would reduce the workload on the GMC or the district hospitals further.
He also suggested that private doctors could be involved in government hospitals as
consulting doctors and be paid some fee to reduce the shortage of doctors. Commenting on the action of the Health Minister of suspending 21 staff at the GMC, Mr Parrikar said accountability should be applied to not only the lower grades but also to higher grades of employees.
Opposing the demands, the Siolim MLA, Mr Dayanand Mandrekar urged that the construction of the new Asilo Hospital at Mapusa be expedited, as this will reduce the load on the Goa Medical College. He also urged the proper attention should be paid to the scan machine and the MRI machines at the GMC because they fail frequently. Mr Mandrekar said that the extension work of the Siolim Primary Health Centre was tendered one year back but is still pending. He urged the minister to look into it.
The Pernem MLA, Mr Dayanand Sopte complained
that the condition of the Pernem (Tuem) upgraded health centre is very bad. He said doctors have been transferred without replacement for years. He also said the X-ray machine has no operator and called for urgent attention to the health centre. The Fatorda MLA, Mr Damodar Naik pointed out that the malaria has risen in Goa and said that builders hiring outstation labourers hardly care for the Rs 1000 fine imposed on them. He also said 40 per cent of the health cards are not renewed. He called for stringent action against these builders.
The Cortalim MLA, Mr Mauvin Godinho who spoke to support the demands, said that there is an acute shortage of medical personnel in all-medical facilities in Goa. He said the Chicalim Cottage Hospital located in Mormugao taluka, does not have even the bare minimum facilities. He also pointed out that all the rooms of the Cansaulim Health Centre were leaking.
He said the GMC has a lot of latest equipment but most of it is not working and therefore patients are diverted to private hospitals and called for total revamp of the entire system.
- Forwarded by www.goa-world.com
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