No solution to Goa crisis in sight

Bhartiya Janata Party President Amit Shah's consultations on Wednesday failed to resolve the leadership crisis in Goa from the hospitalisation of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar with serious pancreatic ailment. He also consulted Parrikar in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) since Saturday but no immediate solution is in sight, the party sources said.

They said Shah is worried that the Congress may take advantage of the infight that has begun among the coalition partners since an idea was floated to let senior minister Sudin Dhavalikar belonging to the Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party (MGP) be given the temporary charge as the chief minister in the absence of Parrikar until his recovery.

A proposal sounded by BJP general secretary (Organisation) Ramlal to temporarily shift union Ayush minister Sripad Naik to Goa as an acting chief minister has also not found favour as the BJP MLAs insist that only one of them be made the chief minister as they also rejected the proposal of giving Dhavalikar the temporary charge as head of a 3-member coordination committee formed early this year to look after the administration during Parrikar's medical treatment in the United States for over two months unless his MGP merges into BJP.

The BJP has 14 MLAs in the 40-member Assembly but its effective strength is only 10 as besides Parrikar, three other ministers/MLAs are in hospitals, one each in the US, Mumbai and Chennai. Sources said Shah was not agreeable to give the command any of them.

In a related development, the Congress sources here said three MLAs of Goa Forward party and three independents who are part of the coalition government are in touch with the local Congress leaders to switch side. The Congress already has the strength of 16 MLAs and it can overthrow the government if these six MLAs come to its side. The Congress has already pressed the Goa governor to summon the Assembly session and ask Parrikar to prove his majority.