A resolution was proposed by Congress MLA Anton Gaonkar in the House on Friday seeking to increase the number of MLAs from the existing 40 to 60. He called for the increase so that the number of legislators in Goa conform to Article 170 of the Indian Constitution, which states that the Legislative Assembly of each state has to consist of not more than 500 and not less than 60 members chosen by direct election.

The resolution was, however, withdrawn after Gaonkar's own leader, Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane opposed it. Surprisingly, leader of the Opposition Kashinath Jhalmi expressed support for the motion even as several Opposition members criticised it.

Defending his motion, Gaonkar felt that increasing the total number of seats in the Assembly even whilereserving 20 per cent for the backward classes would provide opportunities to members of the backward classes.

Incidentally, the smallest state in India, with an area of a little more than 3,000 sq km and a population of 1.2 million, has 14 municipal councils and 180 panchayats to administer it. With 40 MLAs spread over both the state's parliamentary constituencies, certain Assembly segments already have a population as low as 8,000 persons, as pointed out by Speaker Tomazinho Cardozo during the debate.

In fact, the MLAs who opposed the resolution even called for reducing the number of elected representatives in the state. One of them, Manu Fernandes even mooted the idea of 14 MLAs with just four Cabinet ministers. At present, there are 14 members in the Rane cabinet.

Incidentally, when Goa was proposed to be merged with Maharashtra soon after liberation in 1961, it was feared that the former Portuguese colony would have just four MLAs to represent it. The anti-merger activists had promised at least 30constituencies if Goa retained its identity, Jhalmi noted during the debate.