The Congress legislators in a rebellious mood will today meet again to discuss their strategy demanding change in leadership in the state.
The Congress legislators in rebellious mood will today meet again to discuss their strategy demanding change in leadership in the state.
Five Congress legislators, out of 18, had began lobbying against chief minister Digamber Kamat. The move is backed by group of seven legislators including three from Nationalist Congress party (NCP), two Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), a United Goans Democratic party and an independent.
Party sources confirmed that they will be meeting Goa legislative assembly Speaker Pratapsingh Rane insisting that he should take over as the chief minister of the state in place of Kamat.
"Two options for chief minister’s post were discussed in the meeting. Either Rane or Churchill Alemao. The final decision will be taken after proper consensus," a senior legislator said last night.
Congress legislators including Churchill Alemao, Agnelo Fernandes, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, Fransic Silveira and Pandurang Madkaikar had met at a coffee shop here yesterday to lobby against the chief minister.
With independent legislator Vishwajit Rane, son of Pratapsingh Rane, backing the move along with UGDP’s Atanasio Monserratte, the rebellion is expected to get stronger in the hours to come.
"We expect more congress legislators to join our camp. We don’t want to dethrone the government but our move is to replace Kamat, who has been highly inefficient," a legislator said.
NCP legislators have preferred to maintain silence over the entire move. "We will wait and watch whether the Congress legislators are really serious about leadership change. I don’t want that they should make fool of us by using us to get their agenda pushed through by blackmailing about leadership change," a NCP legislator said.
None of the legislator preferred to come on record stating that they will speak to the media only in the afternoon once their strategy is planned and something concrete materializes.
In the 40-member Goa assembly, Kamat government enjoys the support of 26 MLAs -- Congress' 18 MLAs NCP's 3, Maharashtra Gomantak Party's 2, United Goa Democratic Party's one and two independents and if the 12 MLAs withdraw support, the Kamat ministry will be reduced to a minority.
Main opposition BJP has 14 members in the House.
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