Sandesh Prabhudesai
24 October 2000
Outgoing chief minister Francisco Sardinha, who ruled comfortably for 11 months with the Bharatiya Janata Party, now fears the saffron party may create communal divide in the tourist state.
"I hope, like other states of the country, Muslim and Christians in Goa also do not suffer", he said while addressing his last press conference from the official residence at Altinho, before leaving for Raj Bhavan to submit his resignation.
While the BJP has already increased its strength to 18 in the 40-member House before withdrawing support to his coalition government by roping in eight Congressmen into the saffron camp, Sardinha predicts that the four legislators who defected from his party last night may also join the BJP camp.
"By forming a full-fledged government of the BJP, they may simply go ahead with their communal agenda and hamper the communal harmony here", he says, adding that he would oppose the BJP tooth and nail now onwards.
Incidentally, among the eight new entrants are two Christians and one Muslim, who have already said that they have responded to BJP president Bangaru Laxman's call to the minorities. The group of four who split from Sardinha's camp also includes three Christians, who are now supporting the BJP.
"They would not have much powers to decide about such things", quips Sardinha, in response to a question of how the BJP could take a communal line having so many people from minorities in the BJP camp. Half of them have come from the Congress.
Rather than attacking the BJP directly for backstabbing him by withdrawing the support, Sardinha preferred to be sarcastic, thanking the saffron party for proving once again that they cannot be trusted any more.
He recalled how the BJP had withdrawn its support to Dr Wilfred de Souza's government in the past. "Dr Willy had warned me repeatedly in this regard. He has been proved right", said Sardinha with a hurt feeling.
While the BJP has made the issue of evacuee property of Mayem as the main pretext to withdraw support, Sardinha countered it, alleging that the BJP tried to give communal colour to the issue rather than resolving it.
The BJP was enraged with Sardinha as he was protecting one Antonio Pereira, who claimed to be the legal heir of the evacuee family from Portugal and tried to grab the land. The BJP, on the other hand, moved a legislation to give ownership rights of the land and houses to the villagers.
Countering the allegations like wasteful expenditure, foreign junkets and increasing the fiscal deficit, Sardinha said sarcastically : "I want to see how the BJP now gets central assistance in crores, as their party is also ruling at the centre, and brings out Goa from the debt trap".
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