PANAJI, NOV 23: Chief Minister of Goa Luizinho Faleiro may submit his resignation to Governor Lt Gen (retd) JFR Jacob ahead of the trust vote on Wednesday, according to sources close to him. Faleiro's government was reduced to a minority on Friday, when eleven legislators headed by Health Minister Fransisco Sardinha broke away from the Congress. Should Faleiro resign, it would be the second time he is ousted as chief minister in less than a year. In his earlier tenure as chief minister Faleiro lasted for barely 70 days when his government was brought down by defections.Earlier chief ministers in the past year, Pratapsinh Rane and Wilfred D'Souza and Faleiro in his earlier tenure chose to put in their papers rather than face the trust vote after their governments were reduced to a minority. Faleiro who was closeted with supporters in a last ditch effort to avoid the inevitable tried unsuccessfully to woo the dissidents till late today evening. "I will not go back even if Luizinho comes begging to me," former deputy speaker Alexio Sequiera told The Indian Express.However senior Congress leaders, Ramesh Chennitala and Govindrao Adik who are in Goa are still hoping to reunite the warring factions of the Congress party. A whip has already been issued to 19 MLAs to vote in favour of Faleiro. This includes six of the rebel MLAs while five others have already been expelled from the Congress party. However the rebels under the banner of the Indian National Congress (Fransisco Sardinha) have declared their intention to form the Goa Democratic Alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the Nationalist Congress Party as its constituents.Unlike in the earlier Assembly where the rebels against the then chief minister Pratapsinh Rane were sought to be prevented from voting by the then speaker Tomazinho Cardozo no such attempts are being made now. Rane who is now the present Speaker of the Goa Assembly told newsmen that he would consider the matter if a petition to disqualify the rebels is filed by Faleiro as leader of the Congress Legislative Party.The Congress party has however decided not to file a petition before the Speaker praying for the disqualification of the rebel legislators. Faleiro himself told newsmen that there was no move in this direction.INSIGHT:TV cameras in Goa HouseIn a first of sorts in the Goa Assembly, Speaker Pratapsinh Rane has permitted television cameras inside the House. Should Faleiro decide on taking the trust vote television cameras would be permitted to broadcast the proceedings, according to Rane.The Speaker justified the decision stating that television cameras are permitted in the Lok Sabha when a Prime Minister takes the trust vote. Should a trust vote be necessitated television viewers across the country would be subjected to yet another stormy debate possibly live. Bad politics surely makes good television!
