Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji (CN)
Panaji, Aug 4: B Hariprasad, general secretary, All India Congress committee, has left for Delhi on Sunday, August 3, with the confidential report leaving party leaders in the state waiting with bated breath to see who is dropped from the state cabinet.
The Digamber Kamat-led ministry is expected to drop a Congress minister to make space for the induction of legislator Atanasio Monserratte, from its alliance partner United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP).
Hariprasad had held several rounds of meetings with state Congress leaders including the chief minister. ‘He is back to the national capital with the confidential report which sums up his interaction with local leaders. The final decision on the issue will be taken by the Congress high command,’ said a party leader.
The Congress is all out to bestow a cabinet berth on Monserratte to reward him for his contribution in salvaging the Kamat government last year. Monserratte, who was initially part of the legislators who deserted the Congress-led alliance, rejoined the government saving it from fall. Other rebel legislators followed him, thus restoring majority to Kamat.
Highly-placed sources claim that Dayanand Narvekar, state finance minister, has been requested to step down but the senior-most minister, has refused to accede to this ‘request’.
The government’s major constituent, Nationalistic Congress Party (NCP), had demanded that Narvekar be stripped off his portfolio. In January this year a group of six legislators, had rebelled against the chief minister on this issue.
Narvekar found himself in a bigger trouble when a local court charge sheeted him in the India-Australia one-day international cricket ticket scam. The senior leader is also the vice-president of the board of cricket control of India (BCCI) and president of the Goa cricket association.
The chief minister has refused to comment on the issue. With the monsoon assembly session beginning from August 18, political activities gain significance as the current government has faced crisis in almost all the assembly sessions till now.