The Hindu : Front Page : Congress confident

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 05, 2005

Front Page

Front Page

Congress confident

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 4. The Congress central leadership hopes that the Goa Chief Minister, Pratapsinh Rane, would be able to secure a vote of confidence within a week.

Although there appears to be no deadline for the new Government to prove its majority on the floor of the House, party leaders are confident that the Chief Minster would be able to do so over the next seven days.

The Congress sent its general secretary supervising party affairs in the State, Margaret Alva, to Panaji amid reports that Mr. Rane was facing dissidence as many aspirants were keen on joining the Ministry.

However, the party spokesman, Abhishek Singhvi, dismissed such reports as "speculative" and said that the Rane Government would be able to prove its majority.

"These are all speculative things. It is a fast moving situation. Everyone cannot be accommodated," he told reporters.

Support to Jamir

He defended the Goa Governor, S.C. Jamir, who has been under attack from the Bharatiya Janata Party for dismissing the Manohar Parrikar Government. Mr. Singhvi said the Governor had intervened to "stop the murder of democracy."

The Parrikar Government had lost its mandate and yet it "tried to cling (to power) by brute force by preventing one of the MLAs from voting, so as to convert a Congress-alliance majority in its favour. This manipulation and skulduggery did not succeed."

Asked why Ms. Alva suddenly left for Panaji a day after the induction of six more Ministers, which has reportedly resulted in dissidence, Mr. Singhvi said there was nothing wrong in Ms. Alva visiting the State as she was in-charge of the party affairs there.

Our Staff Correspondent writes from Panaji:

Ms. Alva, who reached here in the evening, was closeted with Mr. Rane, Congress MLAs and Ministers at a five-star hotel here. Emerging from the meeting, Mr. Rane refused to comment. Ms. Alva also refused to comment but said there was no problem.

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