Sandesh Prabhudesai
4 Jan 1998
Goa may be a small state, having only two Parliamentary seats. But its
sitting MPs, both belonging to the United Front, have become a pain in the neck for the UF
leaders.
Churchill Alemao, its South Goa MP, refuses to withdraw his party
candidate against union law minister Ramakant Khalap, leader of the Maharashtrawadi
Gomantak Party.
"I don’t mind even if I am thrown out of the UF. But I will
not withdraw my candidate against Khalap", asserts the South Goa MP and United Goans
Democratic Party supremo.
He also reacts sharply to railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s
statement that no UF constituents would be allowed to contest against each other.
"All 13 constituents will stand united as a rock", quips Paswan, but declines to
state whether the UF would take action.
"Let them expel me. I don’t care", says Alemao. "I
also refuse to accept such guidelines, though I strongly support the UF", he adds.
The South Goa strongman learnt to be having blessings of UF leader Deve
Gowda to defeat Khalap, belonging to the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, since the law
minister immediately shifted his allegiance to Gujral camp after his falldown.
Meanwhile, Paswan has ruled out any sort of poll understanding with
Laloo Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal. "We don’t want to have any
relation with those who are having connection with the Congress or the BJP", he
asserts.
The JD leader also claims that in Bihar exists anti-Laloo wave today,
which would finish the former chief minister’s hegemony over the Northern state. He
is also determined to contest from the Hajipur constituency, while confidently claiming
more margin than earlier.
