News Analysis India

Tag: Goa

  • Ahead of oath, Pramod Sawant hands over list of ministers to Goa Governor

    By ANI

    PANAJI: Ahead of the oath ceremony, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader and Chief Minister designate Pramod Sawant on Monday handed over the order for appointing Council of Ministers to Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai at Raj Bhavan.

    As per the order, Vishwajeet Rane, Mauvin Godinho, Ravi Naik, Nilesh Cabral, Subhash Shirodkar, Rohan Khaunte, Atanasio Monserrate, and Govind Gaude will take oath as Ministers along with Sawant today.

    The list includes three fresh faces — Ravi Naik, Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate, and Subhash Siralkar.

    Among the Ministers who are being retained in the Cabinet are Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho, Law and Judiciary Minister Nilesh Cabral among others.

    Pramod Sawant will take oath as Goa Chief Minister for the second consecutive term today. Goa CM-designate Pramod Sawant has arrived at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Taleigao for the oath-taking ceremony.

    The list of invitees for the ceremony include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda, other Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of at least eight states.

    In the recently concluded state Assembly polls, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in Goa, winning 20 seats in the 40-member state Assembly and reducing Congress to 11 seats.

    The BJP fell one seat short of the majority figure in Goa but is set to retain power in the state with the help of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and independent candidates.

  • TMC constitutes panel to review poor performance in Goa polls

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Sunday constituted a committee to review the party’s dismal performance in the recently held assembly elections in Goa, where it drew a blank.

    TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, in a statement, said that the party will convene a series of internal review meetings to introspect its role in Goa.

    The review committee, headed by the party’s Haryana leader Ashok Tanwar, will also comprise Sushmita Dev, and Sourav Chakraborty, he said.

    “We are convening a series of internal review meetings and the first conclave will be held on March 26 where candidates, their core team members and individual members of the party will be invited,” the Diamond Harbour MP, who had visited Goa several times in past four months to build the party’s organisation, said.

    “We began our mission in Goa to fill the void created due to lack of an efficient, robust opposition. Over the next five years, we recommit ourselves to playing that role,” Banerjee said. The party secured a little over five per cent of the votes but failed to win a seat.

    Several senior Congress leaders including former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro, had joined the party ahead of the elections.

  • BJP, Congress leaders rush to Goa, hold talks with smaller parties

    Express News Service

    BELAGAVI: As the countdown begins for the assembly results on Thursday, political parties in Goa are fiercely guarding their potential winning candidates from covetous poachers. With a hung assembly looking imminent, the Congress moved its candidates to a resort in Madgaon on Wednesday, while AAP herded its flock to an unknown “safe location”.

    To avoid a repeat of 2017 — when a large group of Congress legislators defected to the BJP despite the party emerging as the single largest — the Congress has rushed a team headed by P Chidambaram, D K Shivakumar, Satish Jarkiholi, Dinesh Gundurao and Sunil Kedar to Goa to keep its flock together.

    According to sources, the Congress is likely to herd its winning legislators to Rajasthan if there is a hung assembly, and the BJP falls short of a majority. However, KPCC Working President Satish Jarkiholi said the Congress will get a majority and form the government on its own.

    On his arrival in Goa, Jarkiholi said the party sent a team of top leaders to Goa to work out strategies to help the Congress form the government in case of a hung assembly. Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President Girish Chodankar said his party was in talks with AAP and MGP, and that AAP had made it clear it would not support the BJP under any circumstances.

    “The BJP may resort to poaching of Congress MLAs only if it falls way short of a majority. It is confident of getting the support of five to six MLAs, mainly Independents and MGP. Although BJP calls MGP a natural ally, the MGP is yet to clarify its stand on a possible post-poll alliance,’’ said senior journalist Kishor Naik Gaonkar.

    BJP’s election in-charge of Goa Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP would get a majority on its own but would include MLAs of other parties in the government any way. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant went a step further, claiming his party would get the numbers on its own and a meeting had been fixed at 4pm on Thursday at the party office in Panaji.

    Despite the BJP leadership’s repeated claims that MGP would ally with it, MGP chief Sudhin Dhavalikar told a section of media on Wednesday that he would not support a Pramod Sawant-led BJP in Goa, as it had not only “bought” the MGP MLAs but also sacked him (Dhavalikar) from the cabinet in 2019 without reason.

    Regional parties and potential Independent MLAs have kept both the BJP and Congress on tenterhooks in Goa and are waiting for the results before calling the shots. 

  • Goa polls: Congress decides to act swiftly to stake claim for government formation

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Congress veteran P Chidambaram held a meeting with the Goa Assembly poll candidates of his party and those of ally GFP on Wednesday night, where it was decided that the alliance will name its leader immediately after the election results are out and stake claim for government formation, sources said.

    The decision is meant to avoid a repeat of the 2017 fiasco when the Congress had failed to form a government in Goa despite scoring the maximum number of seats.

    Polling for the 40-member House was held on February 14 and the counting of votes will be taken up on Thursday.

    Most exit polls have predicted a hung House in the tiny coastal state, leading the political parties to formulate their strategies keeping in mind different post-result scenarios.

    The Congress had contested the election on 37 seats, while ally Goa Forward Party (GFP) had fielded three candidates.

    The Congress, which had kept its candidates in a luxury hotel at Bambolim near Panaji in North Goa since Tuesday evening, shifted them to another resort in Margao town on Wednesday evening.

    This resort is owned by one of the party candidates.

    Sources said that Chidambaram, who is Congress’s Goa election in-charge, held a meeting with the candidates of the Congress and the GFP, which was also attended by Karnataka Congress president D K Shivkumar, who is currently camping in Goa.

    During the meeting, it was decided to elect the leader of the group immediately after the results are out and stake claim to form the government with state Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai.

    “The appointment with the governor would be sought immediately after the results are declared. We don’t want to commit the mistakes that happened after the 2017 election results,” a senior party office-bearer said.

    Talking to reporters, Shivkumar said that all the candidates are together and there is no worry of any split.

    “BJP is known for its habit of poaching. That is why we have asked all our candidates to stay in a common hotel,” he said.

    In 2017, despite winning 17 seats, the Congress could not come to power as the BJP, which had bagged 13 seats, allied with some independents and regional parties to form the government under the leadership of its stalwart Manohar Parrikar.

    The BJP eyes a third consecutive term in office.

  • Polls: Congress shifts flock to luxury resort in Goa amid prediction of Mar 10 results ending in dead heat

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Desperate to avoid the repeat of the 2017 fiasco when it had failed to form a government in Goa despite scoring the maximum number of seats, the Congress has shifted all the candidates who had contested the Assembly polls to a luxury resort in Bambolim village near Panaji ahead of the counting of votes on March 10.

    Given that the political stakes are very high and considering the quicksand of Goa politics, the party may not allow some candidates even to visit the counting centre on Thursday, a senior Congress leader said on Wednesday.

    However, Michael Lobo, who quit the BJP-led Goa government ahead of the polls and contested on a Congress ticket, said all the candidates will go to the counting centre.

    With the prediction of a hung Assembly setting off power games in Goa, Congress on Tuesday evening shifted all its candidates in a luxury resort at Bambolim village, around 5 km away from Panaji.

    All the candidates checked in the resort on Tuesday evening with their luggage, indicating that the government formation may be a long haul.

    However, Congress leaders refused to admit that the party was corralling its candidates as it is not willing to take any chances given the delicate number game.

    “We are here to celebrate the birthday of Opposition leader Digambar Kamat. It’s a celebration time,” Lobo, who contested the election from home turf Calangute, told reporters.

    Kamat celebrated his birthday on March 8. Lobo said Congress had nothing to fear as all the candidates are together. “There is no worry about poaching,” he added.

    However, a senior Congress leader spoke about the anxiety in the party over retaining the flock against the backdrop of the 2017 experience wherein intense infighting and the delay in staking claim to form a government cost the party dear.

    “There are worries. That is why the candidates are kept under one roof. Some of the candidates will not be allowed even to visit the counting centre tomorrow. Their counting agents will represent them,” a senior Congress leader said.

    Lobo, however, said that all the candidates will go to the counting centre. “Let them celebrate their victory and return to stake a claim to form the government,” he said.

    With its strength whittled down to just two MLAs in the 40-member House from the 17 seats it had won in the 2017 polls and the Goa political space getting crowded with the entry of TMC and AAP, the Grand Old Party did some course correction ahead of polls this time.

    Before the polls, held on February 14, Congress made all its 37 candidates sign affidavits to ensure that they will not defect to other parties after getting elected.

    The Congress had taken all its candidates in a special bus to a temple, a church as well as a dargah in Goa and made them take the ‘anti-defection’ pledge.

    Senior leaders, including AICC Goa election in-charge P Chidambaram and Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao, have been closely monitoring the developments.

    In the 2017 polls, despite winning 17 seats, Congress could not come to power as the BJP, which had bagged 13 seats, allied with some independents and regional parties to form the government under Manohar Parrikar.

  • Congress will form next government in Goa, says Michael Lobo

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Congress leader and former Goa minister Michael Lobo on Thursday expressed confidence that the party will form the government in the state by dislodging the BJP after the Assembly poll results come out on March 10, and dismissed speculations that the Sonia Gandhi-led party will split in the coastal state.

    Addressing a press conference in the presence of Leader of Opposition Digmbar Kamat and Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar, Lobo also dismissed rumours that the top BJP leadership was in touch with him to switch over after the results next week.

    “If the results are out by 3 pm on March 10, the Congress will form the government by 5 pm,” he claimed.

    Lobo, who joined the Congress in January this year after quitting the BJP-led state cabinet, said the people of Goa knew who was making false claims about him.

    “Don’t fall prey to such rumors. Nobody will leave the Congress. Let the BJP try pressure tactics also by using the Enforcement Directorate and other agencies. We all are united and will not leave the Congress,” he asserted.

    Lobo said the Congress will provide a stable government in the state.

    “The BJP will be in the opposition and we are confident about it,” he said.

    Lobo claimed leaders of other parties in the state were in touch with the Congress.

    “They are not interested in supporting the BJP. Not a single independent MLA or the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party will go near the BJP, as it back-stabbed the MGP. Nobody trusts them now,” Lobo claimed.

    The Congress leader said on March 10, the people of the state would be happy after “liberation from the BJP”.

    After the 2017 Goa Assembly polls, the Congress had emerged as the single party by winning 17 seats in the 40-member House.

    However, the BJP, which bagged 13 seats, then quickly tied-up with some regional outfits, including the MGP, and independents to form government.

    Over the last five years, several Congress leaders quit the party and its strength in the Assembly was reduced to two.

    Polls to elect the new state Assembly were held on February 14 this year and the counting of votes would be done on March 10.

  • Rahul Gandhi woos voters in Goa’s mining belt with promise to resume stalled industry

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the iron ore mining in Goa will be resumed as soon as his party comes to power in the state after the Assembly elections.

    He was speaking at a public meeting in Curchorem constituency in South Goa district, a part of the mining belt.

    “Congress will restart the mining industry as soon as the party forms government,” Gandhi said, campaigning ahead of the February 14 elections.

    He questioned the seriousness of the ruling BJP’s assurance that mining will be resumed within six months.

    “BJP leaders say that they will resume mining. Then why didn’t they do it in the last five years?” he asked.

    Gandhi also said that all projects which are detrimental to the coastal state’s interests will be scrapped, including three projects which would affect the Mollem Wildlife Sanctuary.

    The Congress leader also blamed the BJP for `rampant unemployment’ in the state, claiming that the policies of the Union government affected the small and medium industries, leading to this situation.

    “Everyone should get justice. Hence we have decided to restart mining to create employment and give justice to those dependent on mining for livelihood,” he said.

    Mining in Goa came to a standstill in 2018 after the Supreme Court set aside mining leases for various illegalities.

    The state used to earn a revenue of around Rs 1,000 crore a year from the industry.

  • PM Narendra Modi distracting people of Goa from real issues: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of distracting the attention of people of Goa from real issues like environment and employment.

    Criticising Modi over his statement that if Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wanted, Goa could have been liberated “within hours” in 1947 when India attained independence, Gandhi said the prime minister does not understand the situation of those times and what was happening post-World War II.

    Addressing a press conference in Margao, around 35 kms from here, Gandhi expressed confidence that the Congress will win majority of seats in the February 14 Goa assembly elections and there won’t be any need for post-poll alliances.

    “Modi has come to Goa because he wants to distract Goa from real issues like employment, environment…Did he speak anything about environment and employment? BJP’s manifesto has no word about environment,” Gandhi said.

    The prime minister should tell Goans what they have done for creating employment in the state and for tourism industry and environment. Modi, while addressing an election rally at Mapusa near here on Thursday, had slammed the Congress, saying its government took 15 years to liberate Goa from the Portuguese rule.

    Targeting him over the remarks, Gandhi said, “Freedom fighters have commented on this issue. Academics have spoken about it. The sad fact is that the PM does not understand the history of those times. He does not understand what was going on post-World War II. He is coming to Goa to distract people from the real issues like environment and employment.”

    ALSO READ| If Nehru wanted, Goa could have been freed ‘within hours’ in 1947: PM Narendra Modi

    Gandhi also alleged that the BJP came to power in Goa and ruled it for the last five years by stealing the mandate given to the Congress by the people. “Congress will get full majority in Goa and there will be no question of any alliances. Congress will act immediately to ensure we have a government in Goa,” he said.

    In the 2017 elections, the Congress had emerged as the single-largest party in Goa by winning 17 seats in the 40-member House, but could not come to power as the BJP, which bagged 13, acted swiftly and allied with some independents and regional parties to form the government under Manohar Parrikar, who died in 2019.

    This time, the Congress is contesting the election in alliance with the Goa Forward Party (GFP). While the Congress has fielded 37 candidates, the GFP has given tickets to three. Gandhi, who is on a day-long visit to the coastal state, said if his party comes to power, it will start sustainable mining in the state.

    “We have studied the subject. There is no problem in restarting the mining in a legal way. We are going to allow legal and sustainable mining which will give a large number of jobs. Your spirit and tourism is a huge asset. I have spoken to different stakeholders in the tourism industry, we have a plan to completely rejuvenate the tourism industry,” he said.

    The iron ore mining industry, which used to be one of the major sources of revenue for Goa, had come to a grinding halt in the state in March 2018 after the Supreme Court quashed 88 mining leases. Gandhi said the Congress proposes to invest money and energy for turning Goa into an IT and knowledge hub, so that many young Goans can get jobs in the IT industry.

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    The Congress leader assured that three linear projects in Goa – a national highway expansion project, Tamnar power transmission project and the South West Railways’ double-tracking that cut through the biodiversity hotspot of Mollem – would be scrapped, if his party comes to power.

    “The issue of environment is crucial for Goa. You would say that these three linear projects are in the ambit of central government, but after assuming power, the Congress will resist the idea of these projects. We will not let them happen,” he said.

    There is also the issue of unemployment in Goa, Gandhi said. He refused to comment on the raging controversy over ‘hijab’ and said he would not get into any kind of conversation that will distract the people of Goa. “My mission is to focus what is important for the people of Goa,” he said.

  • I was called by ED 10 times after TMC entered Goa politics: Abhishek Banerjee

    By PTI

    PANAJI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday claimed that ever since his party forayed into Goa’s electoral politics, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned him eight to ten times at the behest of the BJP.

    In controversial remarks, he told Goan voters to “take money from the BJP, but vote for the TMC” in the February 14 assembly polls.

    Addressing a public meeting at Cumbharjua in North Goa, he said the BJP has been “misusing power” and targeting the TMC, the ruling party in West Bengal.

    The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is contesting the assembly polls in Goa in an alliance with the MGP, the state’s oldest regional outfit.

    Abhishek Banerjee is the nephew of Mamata Banerjee.

    The Trinamool Congress general secretary claimed his party has become a formidable force in the tiny coastal state ruled by the BJP.

    “The BJP has been misusing power against the TMC, which has become a formidable force in Goa. Every since the TMC has come to Goa, the Enforcement Directorate, at the behest of the BJP, has summoned me eight to ten times,” the Lok Sabha MP claimed.

    Banerjee asserted his party will not get intimidated and vowed to fight back.

    “I am standing here and I give you my word that no matter how much the BJP tries to intimidate us, we will not bow down before them,” he said.

    “Till the time I am alive, till the time blood is flowing through my veins, I will continue to fight for your rights,” the top TMC leader said, making an emotional pitch for his party and seeking votes for it in what is a new terrain for the 24-year-old outfit which is still to make a mark outside its stronghold of West Bengal.

    Banerjee told Goan voters to punish the BJP for its “betrayal”.

    “You take money from the BJP, but vote for don fula (two flowers – poll symbol of TMC) and betray the BJP like they betrayed Goans in 2017 (when the saffron party came to power),” said the 34-year-old politician.

    Banerjee said the greatest betrayal for Goans was in 2017 when “every MLA people voted for sold his soul for Rs 50 crore”.

    “Everyone in Goa is aware of this fact. There are 20,000 to 25,000 voters per constituency. So, you can calculate for yourself. One vote for them costs Rs 20,000,” he said.

    Besides the BJP, he also targeted the opposition Congress.

    The TMC leader said, “Your vote, your trust, your faith, your love, your blessings, your honour is being sold by both the BJP and the Congress for a mere Rs 20,000.

    Banerjee said what happened with Goa in 2017 has never happened in any other state during the last 50 years.

    “You voted for the Congress and rejected the BJP. But the Congress played with the love and trust of the people of Goa. Buying and selling politics must stop in Goa,” he said.

    After the last assembly polls, the Congress emerged as the single largest party, but it was the BJP which formed a government by quickly forging an alliance with smaller parties and Independent MLAs.

    Banerjee said the time has come to vote for clean politics and this can be ensured only by the TMC-led alliance.

    “Voting for any other party except the Trinamool Congress is equal to voting for the BJP which in turn means defeat of Goa,” he added.

    Referring to the BJP’s oft-repated talk of “double engine” goverment, Banerjee dismissed it as “double loot”.

    The term “double engine” is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state.

    “Loot of resources is happening in Goa and another loot of the national exchequer is happening in Delhi (Centre),” the TMC leader said.

    The state, which has a 40-member assembly, will go to the polls on February 14 and votes will be counted on March 10.

  • BJP’s Christian outreach in Goa with 30 per cent tickets

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: While the BJP is contesting on a Hindutva agenda in states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, in Goa it has changed tack as it realises that the road to power lies via the Christian vote bank. Of the 40 candidates fielded by the party, 12, i.e., 30 per cent, are Christians.

    The Christians comprise 25-27 per cent vote base in Goa, second largest after Hindus. However, Hindus do not vote as a block. Earlier, the BJP had tried its strategy of Hindu votes’ consolidation in the coastal state but that did not work. 

    “With Hindu vote bank politics, BJP never crossed 10 seat-mark in Goa Assembly. This time, it has decided to accommodate as many minority candidates as possible. Whether that works or not will be interesting to see because other parties are also banking on the same vote bank in the name of secular politics,” said a political observer.

    Among the BJP’s Christian candidate is Atanasio Monserrate, who has been fielded from Panaji denying ticket to former chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal. A BJP leader admitted that the party wanted to send out a message to the minority community by preferring Monserrate over Utpal.

    Interestingly, Manohar Parrikar had a good support base among the Christian community, which helped him and the BJP remain in power for a long time.

    “Now, Parrikar is not around while his son Utpal has posed a challenge to the official BJP candidate. By denying ticket to Utpal, we have sent a message to the Christians that Monserrate is more important than him,” the leader said.

    The BJP had fielded six Christian candidates in 2012 elections and seven in 2017. Both times, all these candidates romped home. After 10 Congress MLAs joined the BJP in 2019, BJP’s Catholic MLAs’ in tally rose to 15.