Congress stakes claim to form govt in Goa as CM Parrikar recuperates in AIIMS

Goa Congress MLAs drop letter with signatures of 14 MLAs staking claim to form government at governor office

Panaji (Goa): Opposition Congress on Monday submitted a letter with signatures of 14 of its 16 MLAs at governor Mridula Sinha’s office, staking claim to form a government in view of the ailing health of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.  The MLAs led by Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar went to Raj Bhavan but could not meet the governor as she is out of the state. Speaking on the matter, one of the Congress leaders said “The CM post cannot be vacant for so long and Congress is ready to form the government”. The party had also demanded a floor test in the Assembly of the House. The move came at a time when the BJP high command has sent three senior leaders -- Ram Lal, B L Santhosh and Vinay Puranik -- here to meet the state party leaders and allies to take stock of the political situation. On the other hand, the ruling MLAs in Goa on Sunday continued to root for Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, insisting that the Chief Minister's post is not up for grabs, and claimed the ailing leader was clearing official files from AIIMS in Delhi. Parrikar was airlifted on Saturday and got admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi for treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. "He is clearing files. Today, I got four files cleared by him. If he was not there, how could these have been cleared? When I met him the other day, he was clearing files. So where is the question of giving charge to anybody or giving anything else?" Public Works Department minister Sudin Dhavalikar told reporters in Panaji. The BJP has 14 seats in the Assembly, its allies Goa Forward Party and MGP have three legislators each. Three Independents and a NCP MLA are also supporting the saffron party.