Goa cabinet in ICU for a year: Sena
MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Wednesday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the “instability” and “uncertainty” in Goa since chief minister Manohar Parrikar has taken ill.
Parrikar has been undergoing treatment at Delhi’s All India Medical Institute of Medical Sciences after returning from the US on September 8. He had gone to the US twice for medical checkups in August after a threemonth-long treatment for a pancreatic ailment in New York State earlier this year.
“It seems that the Goa cabinet is in intensive care unit for a year now. The situation in Goa is such that government business is stuck. This political instability has led to uncertainty. This is not right,” the Shiv Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece, Saamana.
Meanwhile, Atul Bhatkhalkar, BJP legislator and spokesperson, said the Sena should first think about their own party. “They [the Sena] are nowhere in Goa; they are in mortuary in Goa. The BJP’S government in Goa is stable, all the allies are firm with the BJP.”
The Sena in its editorial also said the governance in Goa had come to a standstill and criticized the BJP for not preparing a second-rung leadership in the state. “(Former defence minister) Parrikar should have been kept in New Delhi. The BJP should have formed a new team in Goa and the government would have been stable,’’ it said. “Had this happened, then the question of who will take over after Parrikar would not have arisen. The BJP is responsible for the current situation on Goa.” It is the latest in a series of barbs Shiv Sena has aimed at its alliance partner, the BJP. Their ties have soured amid the BJP’S growing influence in Maharashtra, where Sena had been the leading party in their alliance.
Sena, the BJP’S oldest ally since 1989, has used editorials in its newspaper to criticize the BJP. In January, the Sena announced it would contest Maharashtra assembly and the national elections due in 2019 on its own.
Sena is hoping to increase its influence in Goa, which has strong cultural links with Maharashtra, in the absence of a strong leader like Parrikar.
The Opposition Congress has staked its claim to form a government in Goa and demanded the Bjp-led alliance government’s dismissal citing Parrikar’s illness. In a letter to Governor Mridula Sinha, the Congress on Monday said Parrikar was “unable to function and the governance has come to a standstill”. Officials said Parrikar had initially expressed his inability to discharge his duties and showed his willingness to distribute his portfolios among other ministers. But the move caused rumbling of displeasure among the BJP’S coalition partners over who would be the interim chief minister.
Officials said the cracks within the alliance forced the BJP to stick with Parrikar for the time being. The Congress had emerged as the single largest party with 16 seats in Goa last year while the BJP came second with 13 in the 40-member assembly.
The BJP outmanoeuvred the Congress by tying up with regional parties such as the Goa Forward Party, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and three independents to form the government. Parrikar is seen as the glue, who has held the alliance together.