ELECTION 99
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Sardinha's government wins vote of confidence

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panjim

Chief Minister Francisco Sardinha, who broke off from the Congress with 10 other members of the Goa Legislative Assembly and formed a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party a week ago, won the vote of confidence in the House this evening by 25 votes to 14.

Besides the 11 legislators belonging to his breakaway faction and 10 of the BJP, Sardinha was supported by two MLAs of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, the sole member of the Nationalist Congress Party, and the only independent in the 40-member House.

All the 14 remaining Congress MLAs opposed the motion when Speaker Pratapsing Rane put it to vote after a debate lasting three-and-a-half hours.

"After remaining loyal to the Congress for the last 19 years, even when defections had become the order of the day, I decided to split from the party to save Goa from disaster due to the authoritarian rule of former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro," Sardinha said in reply to the debate.

He also claimed that the toppling plan was drawn up entirely by the Congress rebels and the BJP had participated in the government at his request, to create trust among the masses that the coalition would complete its term.

While several Congressmen accused the BJP of supporting the coalition against the principles of public morality, BJP politician Manohar Parrikar said the continuing instability in Goa would get over only when the government worked for all MLAs, without giving any opportunity for rebellion.

Surprisingly, while newly elected Leader of the Opposition Ravi Naik did not criticise the new formation, most members of the breakaway group openly admitted on the floor of the House that they broke away because outsiders were made ministers by Faleiro instead of them.

Prior to the recent split which toppled the Congress government in five months, Faleiro had engineered splits in three parties and lured five legislators to his party, offering Cabinet berths to two of them, to save his government from the brewing rebellion.

"The stability of my government will ultimately depend upon how efficiently we govern the state," admitted Sardinha during the debate. The Opposition, however, felt confident that the coalition would not last long.

Tell us what you think of this report