Panaji, Dec 23 (IANS) Admitting to a crisis in the Congress-led government over tainted Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Mickky Pacheco’s induction in the Goa cabinet, state party chief Subhash Shirodkar Thursday said the alliance partner could be dropped – if push came to shove.
The party chief was speaking to reporters outside the chief minister’s residence where he, along with Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, met eight of the dissident Congress legislators.
‘I have heard them all. There is genuine reason for their dissidence. We have listened to their grievances and passed them on to the high command. We will take a decision on the induction of Pacheco in the cabinet by today (Thursday) evening,’ Shirodkar said.
‘If it comes to that, we will go alone. I have always said that the Congress in Goa is strong enough to run the government alone,’ he added.
Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Churchill Alemao leads a group of 10 dissident Congress legislators, including four ministers, who have threatened to topple the government in Goa if Pacheco – Alemao’s sworn political rival – is inducted in the 12-member cabinet.
At a press conference held late Wednesday, Alemao said: ‘The Congress has principles. If they can drop a chief minister in Maharashtra after allegations of corruption, how can they allow a tainted minister in the Goa cabinet.’
‘We will topple the government if Mickky is inducted and go to the people’s court,’ Alemao said.
On Thursday, before meeting the dissident legislators, the chief minister met Goa Governor S.S. Sidhu and apprised him on the political developments, spread over the last one week.
The current political crisis was precipitated after the NCP high command earlier this week directed the two NCP ministers, Jose Phillip D’Souza and Nilkanth Halarnkar, to leave their posts and re-induct Pacheco as a minister in the cabinet in turn.
Pacheco has been booked for culpable homicide in connection with the death of his alleged lover Nadia Torrado. She died after consuming rat poison after an alleged spat with the minister.
