Mathany disqualfication to win trust vote?

| 02 March 2005 18:06 IST

Getting United Goans Democratic Party legislator Mathany Saldhana disqualified or restrained him from voting is the only option left with the Congress-led Pratapsing Rane government, to win the trust vote, scheduled on 4 March.

Accordingly, Congress legislator Jitendra Deshprabhu has filed a disqualification petition against Saldhana, praying for an ad-interim relief, restraining him from entering the House on 4 March.

Saldhana is supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party, in spite of his UGDP issuing a whip to vote in favour of Rane. The petition is being filed on the grounds of defying the party directive.

The Rane government is left with only 16 legislators in the House against 17 of the BJP – Saldhana combine, as senior Congressman Francisco Sardinha being appointed as the protem speaker.

The Congress is thus trying to get Saldhana restrained from entering the House for the trust vote, to create a situation of 16 each. Sardinha would be then able to cast his vote in Rane’s favour, in case of a tie.

Minister Dayanand Narvekar claims that they would be able to win the trust vote without any problems.

Former BJP chief minister Manohar Parrikar however still claims that the House would witness the majority they enjoy at the time of trust vote.

Though rumours are still making rounds that at least one more BJP legislator would resign in support of the Rane government, senior Congressmen deny having any such plan.

The Congress-led alliance government is presently having only three ministers from their side while other posts are either filled or being kept reserved for the alliance partners and the BJP members who have resigned.

Out of five BJP members who have resigned, Pandurang Madkaikar and Isidore Fernandes are already the ministers while three are awaiting induction. These are Digambar Kamat, Babush Monserette and Micky Pacheco.

Though deputy chief minister Philip Neri Rodrigues has been dropped from the cabinet after he was disqualified yesterday, he is hoping to come back by getting his disqualification reversed through the court.

Besides these six, other five posts are occupied by Nationalist Congress Party leader Wilfred de Souza as well as Congressmen Luizinho Faleiro and Dayanand Narvekar, besides Rane.

As the cabinet size is being restricted to 12, the 15-member Congress is left with only one slot to fill in while the party has two former chief ministers and six former ministers left behind.

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