Trouble in Goa Cong — Faction walks over to CM

The 15-member Congress Legislative Party has thus been reduced to 10 with the five-member group making up the requisite one-third of the original group needed to be considered legitimate under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

The group, comprising Sheikh Hassan, Calangute MLA Suresh Parulekar, Kepem MLA Prakash Velip, Vasco MLA Jose Phillip D’Souza and Velim MLA Phillip Neri Rodrigues, had reportedly demanded change in the leadership of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP). Their anger had been particularly directed against PCC president Luizinho Faleiro, who they allege was dictatorial and attempted to fill the Congress party with sycophants.

Faleiro’s support to the Youth Congress was like giving legitimacy to highway robbery, Parulekar said. Speaking to The Indian Express, he took strong exception to the Goa PCC president’s support for what he called “criminal activities” of the Youth Congress led by its president Girish Chodankar who were arrested on charges of impersonation.

Charging with Luizinho with dictatorial functioning, Parulekar said the Congress high command, particularly all India general secretary in charge of Goa Prabha Rao, should now make amends for blindly following Luizinho’s advice and actions.

Parulekar and Velim MLA Phillip Neri Rodrigues and Kepem MLA Mr Prakash Velip originally belonged to the UGDP and the MGP and joined the Congress on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections at the behest of Luizinho Faleiro who was then the Congress chief minister.

The latest development is significant in the light of BJP legislature party leader Manohar Parrikar’s demand that Revenue Minister Mauvin Godinho be dropped from the Cabinet. The BJP, ally of the ruling party in Goa, has reportedly been angry over Godinho’s decision to shift the idol of Goddess Shantadurga in Bicholim through an official order.

The proposed entry of the Sheikh Hassan-led group into the GPCP is likely to pave the way for the dropping of Godinho from the Cabinet. It has been learnt that yet another dissident minister from the GPCP is likely to be dropped and the vacancy filled by another new entrant from the five-member group.

The Chief Minister is learnt to have received the green signal for this proposed operation from the BLP legislature party and its leader Manohar Parrikar, who are learnt to have had late-night confabulations with Sardinha, Deputy Chief Minister Dauanand Narvekar and Cooperation Minister Somnath Zuarkar.

Like the numerous other splits, this defection too is shadowed with charges of huge pay-offs by the ruling party. However, the Congress is likely to suffer a further dilemma if Mauvin Godinho decides to rejoin the Congress with a sizable number of MLAs. This is because of the charges of corruption being traded publicly by Godinho and Luizinho Faleiro.

Godinho is also not likely to organise an uprising n the GPCP since he is not considered acceptable to most of his colleagues. Parulekar said the five MLAs would address a press conference tomorrow to express their feelings and to elaborate on their ultimatum to the Congress high command regarding the change in PCC and the CLP leaderships.