Sardinha starts functioning, sans common agenda

Sandesh Prabhudesai
25 November 1999 

No common agenda, no co-ordination committee and chief minister Francisco Sardinha's coalition government has already started functioning while their coalition partner – the BJP – would join the government only tomorrow morning.

The Congress breakaway group led by Sardinha has made all its 11 members as ministers. But the 10-member BJP has only three in the cabinet. The other five, belonging to two parties and an independent are supporting from outside.

"We have no lust for power and also not in favour of increasing the size of the cabinet beyond 14", says BJP national secretary Sanghpriy Gautam, admitting indirectly that greed is the root cause of the split, which they have supported.

He shamelessly even goes to the extent of claiming that these 11 former Congressmen cannot split further and go back to their original party because all of them have been made ministers. "That is why we are confident that they would not trouble us", adds Gautam.

He was replying to the question whether the history would repeat since it happened just last year and politicians like Dayanand Narvekar and Subhash Shirodkar, who had split with three and a half months from Dr Wilfred de Souza's coalition are also part of this government, holding important positions.

The BJP has selected three legislators – state party president Dr Suresh Amonkar, second-time MLA Digambar Kamat and newcomer Prakash Phadte, for the cabinet berths. Manohar Parrikar, who was the state opposition leader, has opted out.

The coalition is yet to take shape though the BJP has also selected Ulhas Assnodkar, another newcomer, for the deputy speaker's post. "We are yet to apply our mind over who would sit there", says however the chief minister.

Sardinha however claims that the coalition has still not decided about it. Though he also says that Nationalist Congress Party leader Dr Wilfred de Souza would get a respectable place from where he could guide the four-party coalition, he is not even prepared to state whether the coalition would have a co-ordination committee.

Parrikar had however said earlier that he would be part of the co-ordination committee of the four parties. It is also learnt that Dr Willy would be the chairman of the committee. "We have not yet applied our mind to it", quips Sardinha.

Sardinha also says they have not applied their mind neither on the formation of the co-ordination committee of the four parties as well as the common minimum agenda. "We would work on the common minimum agenda", says Gautam, in-charge of Goa desk.

But the 11-member cabinet met today even before portfolios were allocated, deciding to review all the policy decisions of the Congress government, which they were part of. "Obviously the wrong decisions would be reversed", says Sardinha.

He has also declared that the decision to withdraw 50 per cent of the sales tax exemption with retrospective effect would be reversed immediately while the government would also take a decision on the controversial Meta Strips project.

Peoples' agitation demanding scrapping of the project is spreading very fast and a morcha has been planned in the city tomorrow, serving a deadline for the government. While the Congress government was adamant on the issue, even the Church – supporting the agitation – is watching what now Sardinha does.

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