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Goa crisis : Controversial change of government

	February 07, 2005

A Congress-led Government has assumed office in Goa after the dismissal of the 32-month old BJP-led coalition Government headed by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. The Governor dismissed the Parrikar Government minutes after it won a vote of confidence on the floor of the Assembly. The Goa Assembly session called by the Governor for the vote of confidence was adjourned at 5.40 p.m. on February 2 by Speaker Vishwas Satarkar. Chief Minister Parrikar said he received the order dismissing him at 6.10 p.m.



Earlier, the Parrikar Government won the vote of confidence 18-6 in a controversial manner. The Speaker disqualified Independent MLA, Philip Neri Rodrigues, on dubious grounds and had him physically removed from the House. In the pandemonium that followed, the Speaker declared that the Chief Minister had won the vote of confidence. It is not clear how the Speaker counted 18 MLAs for the Government and only 6 for the Opposition which had claimed that it had 18 members.

The BJP has attacked the Governor for what it called a reprehensible and pre-meditated action in dismissing the Parrikar Government. On the other hand, Governor S.C. Jamir has said that the manner in which the Speaker disqualified Rodrigues and then quickly sought to pass the vote of confidence was itself unconstitutional. In a written communication, the Governor said the Speaker’s action was a complete sham and a mockery of Parliamentary democracy.

The Governor said it is the Speaker’s responsibility to protect the sanctity of the Chair he occupies. “But the action of the Speaker in initiating the disqualification proceedings in respect of the Independent member Philip Neri Rodrigues, was clearly with an ulterior motive to reduce the numerical strength of the INC-led United Legislature Party,” the statement said.

It was “most unfortunate” and against the spirit of the Constitution that “the proceedings of the august House were reduced to a farce.” Jamir was convinced that the conduct of the proceedings “was absolutely chaotic and a serious blot on democracy.” Accordingly, he dismissed the Government headed by Manohar Parrikar under Article 164 after weighing all the facts and circumstances and after due application of mind.

Having received a letter from the ULP signed by all the 18 members, staking its claim to form the Government and convinced that it could provide a stable government, Jamir had sworn in Pratapsinh Rane Chief Minister.

However, Satarkar refuted the charges and said that Jamir had no authority “to pass comment on him.” Whatever he had done was as per the business rules of the House and the Constitution.

Parrikar has termed his dismissal as a gross violation of the Constitution. He said the Raj Bhavan has become the Congress headquarters and S.C. Jamir was acting like a Congressman.

A high level delegation of the BJP met the President on February 3 to seek his intervention to get the dismissed Manohar Parrikar Government in Goa reinstated. The party also asked for the recall of the Governor for what it described as his unconstitutional and partisan action.

The BJP has decided to launch a countrywide agitation against the dismissal of the Parrikar Government. The party is also said to be exploring the possibility of taking the matter to court. But there is no certainty about this with one report saying that BJP leaders, at a meeting at party president L.K. Advani’s residence on February 4, decided to avoid a legal route on the Goa crisis. Instead, they appeared to be in favour of a political struggle to rekindle memories of the anti-democratic tendencies of the Congress and slowly revive the anti-Congress politics of the 1980s.

BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said the BJP as a party, had “no locus standi” to take the dismissal issue to court. Since former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was the “aggrieved party,” he could go to court and was consulting advisors. Party sources said even Parrikar was unlikely to go to court as it involved a “lengthy procedure” which could drag on without outcome. Moreover, the controversial role played by Goa Speaker Vishwas Satarkar could also come under scrutiny in court.

The BJP instead, is keen on making political capital out of the case. “Not just NDA, all regional parties are shaken by the manner in which the Governor’s office was misused,” a senior leader said, hinting that Mulayam Singh Yadav and leaders of smaller parties had privately expressed their concerns.

BJP leaders are particularly pleased with the Left’s response. While Left parties were critical of the Speaker’s partisan role, they disagreed with the manner of the Government’s dismissal and preferred early polls.



New Congress government also facing crisis

There are reports that the new Congress-led Government formed in Goa is also facing a crisis with six party MLAs threatening to resign, aggrieved by not being made Ministers. The party general secretary, in-charge of Goa affairs, Margaret Alva, rushed to Panaji last week amid reports that Chief Minister Rane was facing dissidence as many aspirants were keen on joining the Ministry. On returning to Delhi, Margaret Alva maintained that the party is united in Goa and claimed that there was no jockeying for ministerial positions. Chief Minister Rane who also came to Delhi said there is no dissidence in the party ranks over ministerial berths. He was confident that his Government would prove its majority on the floor of the House as and when the Governor directed them to go in for a a floor test. He said he is yet to receive a formal communique from the Governor fixing the day for the vote of confidence. The Chief Minister and PCC president Faleiro met party president Sonia Gandhi and assured her that the new Government would secure the vote of confidence. The Congress leaders said Goa Speaker Vishwas Satarkar was their next target. They expected the Speaker to resign on his own, failing which they would seek his removal as they had already given notices of no confidence against him.

Most constitutional experts have termed the Governor’s action in dismissing the Parrikar Government as “completely illegal” while some others have justified it. Former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee said the Governor could have asked the Chief Minister to prove his majority in the Assembly after following the correct procedure instead of dismissing him. Former Solicitor General Harish Salve described the Governor’s action as “illegal and high-handed.”

Observers say that Goa has a long history of political parties subverting the democratic mandate by subjecting politics to sordid horse trading. But even by the standards of Goa’s recent history, the train of events that ensued since the Parrikar Government’s majority was put in doubt calls into question the democratic credentials of all parties. Part of the pattern witnessed is familiar. Legislators constantly bargain with different parties and even hold governments to ransom. Parties attempt to break off factions from each other. MLAs are then paraded before the Governor. The only way out of this conundrum is to have a clear test of the strength of the Government on the floor of the House. But Goa’s institutions have sunk to such astonishing depths that even a simple test of who has majority cannot be conducted without controversy.