House prorogued, BJP wants Kamat, Jamir out

Leader of the Opposition Manohar Parrikar said Jamir was biased and must be removed. He demanded that Chief Minister Digamber Kamat had lost the confidence of the House and must be sacked. The former CM said the Kamat Government had been reduced to a minority as the strength of his opponents totalled 22 in the House of 40.

Even as the three NCP MLAs, who withdrew support to the Government on Wednesday, remained defiant and refused to pull back, the party rushed in senior leader Praful Patel to woo back the legislators. Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad was also holding talks with partymen.

Earlier in the day, 22 MLAs led by Independent MLA Vishwajit Rane arrived at the Assembly only to find it prorogued by the Governor. Rane was accompanied by the three NCP MLAs, United Goans Democratic Party MLA Babush Monserrate and Reginaldo Lourenco of the Save Goa Front. The group included 14 BJP MLAs and two MLAs from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.

In New Delhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar warned his MLAs of extreme action and sent a letter to the Speaker informing him that their action came under the anti-defection law. “I am sending my senior colleagues to the state to take stock of the situation. They will also be carrying a letter to the Speaker informing him that the action by the MLAs amounts to inviting anti-defection provisions,” Pawar told reporters. “According to the new law, these MLAs can be stopped from contesting polls for the next five years,” Pawar reminded.

Meanwhile, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the BJP observer for Goa, said his party was not at all interested in forming the Government as it wanted the “Congress to stand fully exposed for its misdeeds”. “The Kamat Government has been in minority ever since its inception seven months ago. It has been ruling on the basis of an arrangement among the Governor, Speaker and the CM,” Rudy said.