Goa’s lone woman MLA on strike as Cabinet expanded

Except Vishwajeet Rane, the son of Goa Speaker and former chief minister Pratapsinh Rane who fought the elections as an Independent, all other inducted legislators have held ministerial posts in earlier Cabinets. And except for Aleixo Sequeira, they were all members of the Pratapsinh Rane Cabinet.

However, the Cabinet expansion has already run into trouble, with the sole woman Congress MLA, Victoria Fernandes, going on a hunger strike at being denied a Cabinet berth. “This is a grave injustice to women…. I am the lone lady legislator and even Congress President Sonia Gandhi had assured me of a ministerial berth,” Fernandes, who resorted to hunger strike just a few minutes before the swearing-in, told reporters. The Goa Mahila Pradesh Congress Committee has extended its support to Fernandes.

A three-time legislator, Fernandes defeated Jennifer Monserrate, wife of former Town and Country Planning Minister Atanasio Monserrate, in St Cruz constituency in the recent election.

She accused party General Secretary Margaret Alva of acting under the influence of the builders’ lobby in keeping her out of the Cabinet. Fernandes has strongly opposed the plan to urbanise Goa under a proposal which would see big real-estate companies buy up land in the state.

“I will continue my hunger strike till I get a word from Sonia Gandhi,” Fernandes said.

The Chief Minister, however, claimed that he had offered Fernandes the post of parliamentary secretary, with charge of a few departments vested with him.

“Being a senior Congress legislator, she (Fernandes) knows the style of the Congress functioning. High command has to approve the names…. I hold her in high esteem and I will try to convince her,” Kamat said.

As Fernandes refused to give up her strike, many Congress legislators, including ministers Ravi Naik and Sequeira, visited her.

The eight ministers who were inducted today included the Congress’s Dayanand Narvekar, Philip Nery Rodrigues, Pandurang Madkaikar, Joaquim Alemao, Manohar Azgaonkar and Sequeira, along with Fransisco alias Micky Pacheco (NCP) and Vishwajeet Rane.