It's a murder of democracy in Goa, says Parikkar

New Delhi: Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat won a vote of confidence in the state assembly on Monday.

Kamat, who heads a Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) coalition, won the vote even as the opposition Goa Democratic Alliance (GDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a walkout from the house.

The day saw some deft maneuvering on part of the Congress to get the trust vote in its favour. At first the Speaker restrained Congress MLA Victoria Fernandes whose resignation from the Assembly had not been accepted, from voting, then he restrained two MGP MLAs - Udhin Dhavalikar and Rama Dhavalikar also from doing the same.

“It is a blatant action by the Speaker to save the government,” said BJP General Secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Victoria Fernandez who was part of the Congress party and someone who was supporting the Congress on the floor of the Assembly. But she suddenly decided to switch sides and join hands with the BJP.

However, the Congress now says that they have decided to file a disqualification petition against lone Congress woman MLA.

Reacting to Kamat's win, BJP leader Manohar Parikkar described the goings-on in the Assembly as a “murder of democracy.”

But General Secretary AICC, Margaret Alva said, “The BJP is always accusing somebody of something. This entire operation was financed by the big companies who have invested in Goa.”

“They have tried to clobber in people and form a government from the backdoor and dislodge a government which has been elected,” added Alva.

The Dhavalikar brothers had withdrawn their support to the Congress-led government in the state.

The GDA, lead by Parikkar, had staked claim to form the next government in the state. To prove that the numbers back him, Parikkar had even paraded MLAs backing him before President Pratibha Patil. The Opposition walked out of the Assembly in protest.