Willy Govt on the verge of collpase
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 19 November 1998 16:06 ISTThe three-month old coalition government headed by Dr Wilfred de Souza is virtually on the verge of collapse with three ministers resigning from the 14-member cabinet. They are planning to bring back the Congress to power by rejoining the party they had left in July.
Chief minister de Souza, who is presently in London attending the World Tourism Mart, has recommended governor J F R Jacob by a fax message to immediately drop irrigation minister Dayanand Narvekar, the rebel leader, from his cabinet late in the evening.
Resignations of other two ministers, Subhash Shirodkar and Pandu Vasu Naik, are still being considered. All three of them were part of the ten-member splinter Congress group led by de Souza in July that had brought three and a half years of Congress rule to an end.
Narvekar, the number two minister, was totally sidelined by de Souza after forming the cabinet while allotting portfolios. Since then, he has been trying to rejoin the Congress and ultimately succeeded in getting three others along with him. The fourth one is deputy speaker Deu Mandrekar.
The splinter group from the ruling coalition is yet to rejoin the Congress, the strength of which would swell to 19 in the 40-member House while sources in the Congress claim support of two more independents. This would obviously reduce the coalition to 19, only one member less while the speaker still belongs to the Congress.
The Assembly session has already been convened on 2 December, where the coalition was planning to replace the speaker. While de Souza is now rushing back to Goa, it has to be seen whether the governor waits till the Assembly session, directing de Souza to prove his majority in the House.
De Souza, who was fully aware of the moves by Narvekar to dislodge his government, had publicly threatened that President's Rule would be imposed if attempts were made to topple him. The fate of his government would now depend on the BJP, which is supporting his government from outside even at local level, besides participation of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.
