Wagh demands ministry to represent Tiswadi; a new argument
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 07 September 2015 13:33 ISTSt Andre MLA Vishnu Wagh has demanded representation for Tiswadi taluka in the cabinet.
He has also objected to the delaying tactics of chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar in filling the vacancy in his cabinet.
Parsekar, who had earlier announced to fill the vacancy before Chovoth, has now postponed it after Chovoth.
“What Chovoth has to do with cabinet induction? Festivals will come and go. After Chovoth will come Diwali, then Carnival, then Shigmo. This doesn’t sound a convincing justification”, he told gonaews.com.
Parsekar has reportedly been pressurised from all sides within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to get ‘himself’ inducted in the cabinet.
Wagh is also one of aspirants in the race.
The post had initially fallen vacant after former chief minister Manohar Parrikar resigned on 8 November last year to become the defence minister of India.
The vacancy was immediately filled on 15 November by inducting Mickky Pacheco, leader of the two-member Goa Vikas Party from Salcete.
However, Mickky had to step down on 3 April after Supreme Court upheld his six-month jail term sentenced by the lower court for assaulting a public servant in 2010.
Since then, the post is vacant for the last five months, which Parsekar had announced to fill by first week of September.
Initially, it was decided to induct deputy speaker Anant Shet, the only two-term MLA of the BJP who has not been made the minister, besides speaker Rajendra Arlekar.
The ruling BJP has followed a policy of giving ministerial berth only to the ‘experienced’ legislators, who have served more than one term.
Wagh, the first-time MLA, objects to the criteria of more than one term to call anybody ‘experienced’.
“It should be administrative experience and not how many terms you are the MLA”, he feels.
Goa Kala Academy chairman Wagh, even before elected as MLA, has served as the vice chairman of the same institution when the Congress was ruling.
In addition, he has now come up with the argument of ‘taluka representation.’
According to him, after Parrikar left, Tiswadi taluka has not been represented in the cabinet.
He provides a list to show unbalanced representation, as follows:
3 from Bardez: Dy CM Francisco D’Souza, Dayanand Mandrekar and Dilip Parulekar – all BJP.
3 from Ponda: Sudin Dhawalikar and Dipak Dhawalikar – MGP, and Mahadev Naik – BJP.
2 from Mormugao: Alina Saldanha and Milind Naik – both from BJP.
2 from Pernem: CM Laxmikant Parsekar and Speaker Rajendra Arlekar (not in the cabinet) – from BJP.
1 each from Canacona and Bicholim: Ramesh Tawadkar (minister) and Anant Shet (Dy Speaker) – both BJP.
1 from Salcete: Avertano Furtado – independent.
Perhaps the party MLAs would agree with Shet’s induction if Parsekar plans only filling the vacancy.
But if he also goes ahead with reshuffle by dropping one minister – probably junior Dhawalikar, then comes into picture induction one first-time MLA.
Wagh has thus loaded his gun with the ammunition of ‘taluka representation’ – a new criteria besides his past administrative experience – to get the berth in the cabinet.
Sometimes people in politics never learn even after several bad experiences. This guy who has a brain inversely proportional to the size of his body is clearly refusing to learn from his past mistakes. Now he wants to have a new quota system to brighten his chances to get a potrfolio. Tomorrow, don't be surprised to read new statistics linking bhandari samaj population to the number of ministers from that caste etc. He should read the advertisement he posted on Vajapayees birthday denouncing the local BJP party. Not that I care for BJP or whoever but just goes to show how some of these young, incompetent, ambivalent newly minted politicians are desperate after political offices and can go to any level to achieve their target!
Its very good at least i can read something and know whats hapening in my goa. since i belong to goa keep it on good luck..........