NCP's Francisco joins Cong, counters toppling game
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 05 November 1999 17:22 ISTAfter electing the new Assembly four months ago, the political circus in Goa is still on.
Once again, to save his seat of power, chief minister Luizinho Faleiro has engineered defection, this time in the two-member Nationalist Congress Party headed by Dr Wilfred de Souza.
With this, the strength of the ruling Congress party rises to 26, besides outside support of independent MLA Isidore Fernandes in the 40-member House. The earlier defections were two each from the UGDP and the MGP.
Mapusa MLA Francisco D'Souza, also the mayor of Mapusa municipality, split the NCP yesterday and joined the Congress today morning, along with eight other councillors. The remaining four out of 13 were already in the ruling party.
The reasons given are many, one of which is to strengthen the hands of chief minister Faleiro, in the background of yet another ongoing attempt to topple the Congress government.
Dr de Souza, the local NCP president, however claims he allowed D'Souza to go ahead with it in the interest of development of Mapusa city. "He has promised me to jump back in case the government falls", adds Dr Willy.
Babush, as he is widely known in Mapusa, also does not deny the fact. "You cannot get special attention unless you are a Congressman", complains D'Souza, adding further that the non-Congress MLA get only 'average attention' for the developmental works.
Faleiro, while announcing the merger at the Congress House today morning, indirectly confirmed it stating that D'Souza would be now given full co-operation for his plans of rehabilitation and renovation of the city market including widening of roads.
"It is a small sacrifice for the development", comments Dr Willy. He alleges that Babush was harassed by the government and no file of any developmental work was cleared by any minister, simply because he was not a Congressman.
He however refutes D'Souza's claim that the ultimate plan of the Goa Rajiv Congress or subsequently of the NCP was to join the ruling Congress party. "Only Sharad Pawar can decide about it, not he", quips the veteran politician.
Reacting to his former party colleague's allegation that he was trying to dislodge the Faleiro government, Dr de Souza denies that he has been making any such moves. "No doubt moves are on within the Congress, but I am not part of it", he claims.
The development is significant in the background of three ministers – Ravi Naik, Francisco Sardinha and Somnath Juwarkar – making Delhi trips to try and get the leadership changed. Failing this, the plan is learnt to be to form alternate government with the BJP's support.
Whether this would come as a Diwali gift for Goans from the dissidents and opposition is still not clear. But chief minister Faleiro today happily distributed sweets at the press conference, wishing everybody Happy Diwali !
