Kamat ready for House

Chief Minister Digamber Kamat has worked hard to ensure that the Monsoon Session of the Goa Assembly scheduled from Monday does not prove to be a stormy affair.

Chief Minister Digamber Kamat has worked hard to ensure that the Monsoon Session of the Goa Assembly scheduled from Monday does not prove to be a stormy affair. He has been able to rein in most of his detractors8212;both inside the party and in alliance partner NCP.

The Opposition with the help of smaller parties like the Save Goa Front led by Churchill Alemao and United Goans Democratic Party Atanasio Monserrate were planning a coup ahead of the session by trying to get at least four disgruntled MLAs from the ruling party resign.

But Kamat stalled the move by offering plum portfolios to most of the senior leaders and appointing some of them as parliamentary secretaries. NCP8217;s Wilfred D8217;Souza, who lost the election, has also been given the post of vice-president of the state Planning Commission with Cabinet rank.

Another shot in the arm for the Chief Minister is that the merger effort of the UGDP and SGF received a jolt when the executive council of the former turned down the proposal. The party decided to form a separate regional outfit instead of merging it with the SGF. In the process, the UGDP may also lose its popular symbol of 8216;two leaves8217; as the party could elect only one member to the Assembly. Outside Goa, the party has its existence in Jharkhand and faces the same prospect there.

The two regional parties, however, had decided to work unitedly on the floor of the House, said Alemao.

Down but definitely not out, the Opposition is now banking on the controversial regional plan, which was withdrawn after protests, to raise certain issues. According to sources in the Opposition, this Assembly session will witness exposure of some important leaders who were involved with the plan.

The Opposition is also planning to embarrass Vishwajit Rane on the issue. That, however, is likely to prove difficult as his father Pratapsinh Rane is the Speaker of the House. In the BJP, most of its members, with the exception of Manohar Parrikar, are new.