Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat today won a confidence vote on the floor of the Assembly thanks to some help from party colleague and Speaker of the Assembly Pratapsinh Rane, who restrained three Opposition MLAs from voting and then cast his vote to tilt the number game. Acting on a disqualification petition against two Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLAs, who had switched sides thereby leaving the Kamat Government shaky, Rane decided to temporarily restrain Sudhin Dhavlikar and Pandurang Dhavlikar from participating in the trust vote. He didn’t allow rebel Congress party MLA Victoria Fernandes to vote either. This left the Opposition-led front with 18 MLAs, the same as the ruling combine. As this meant a tie, the Speaker could constitutionally cast his vote.However, while the Congress managed to stay in power, the party leadership at the Centre is far from convinced about the longevity of the Kamat Government. Senior party leaders here feel that the legislative process through which the Congress cleared the floor test might not stand judicial scrutiny.“While the MGP MLAs had violated their party’s decision to support the Kamat Government, it is the legislative wing and not the political wing of a party that is empowered to take a decision on legislative business. Thus, it can be argued that the two MGP MLAs were within their rights to take a decision independent of what their party had decided,” said Congress sources. Apparently conscious of such grey areas, the Congress refrained from making any celebrations of its success in Goa. As the BJP screamed “murder of democracy”, the mood at the Congress headquarters was far from upbeat.Party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, however, tried to put up a brave front, accusing the BJP of attempting to make a backdoor entry to power in the state.Goa Speaker Rane, meanwhile, took the line that he had taken an “interim decision” to not allow the three MLAs to vote. Rane argued that he decided to suspend the voting rights of the two MGP MLAs as their decision to withdraw support to the Government was not endorsed by the executive council of the party. He said the two MLAs did not even bother to show up for the hearing on their disqualification petition.As for rebel Congress MLA Victoria Fernandes, Rane said her very actions and gestures and movements with the Opposition and comments were enough to restrain her from voting. With PTIPM, Sonia behind Goa drama: BJPNew Delhi: BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the floor test in Goa Assembly was yet another example of how “pigmies occupying high positions were subverting the Constitution”. BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi of extending “extra-constitutional support” to the party leaders to retain power in Goa through a controversial test of strength in the Assembly. Jaitley said Goa Speaker Pratapsingh Rane was doing the bidding at the behest of Gandhi and Singh.
