--------------------------------------------------------------------------- **** http://www.GOANET.org **** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Symposium on Pre-Primary & Primary School Education & Primary School Students Chess Tournament More information at: http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-January/068222.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- BJP's 'oust Jamir' campaign soon By A Staff Reporter / Gomantak Times [EMAIL PROTECTED] PANJIM: "Jamir - Quit Goa"! That will be the BJP warcry in the coming days as part of its campaign to oust Governor S C Jamir. And joining this chorus against the Governor will be a galaxy of national leaders of the BJP. They will fan out in all villages of Goa as a part of an awareness drive planned by the party. This, in turn, is a part of the 'mass campaign' planned by the entire state unit of the BJP. It will also entail the participation of local BJP leaders -- BJP state president Shripad Naik, leader of the Opposition Manohar Parrikar and party office bearers, who have vowed to take the 'Oust Jamir' campaign to the grassroot level in the state. In the light of the BJP going into an overdrive against Jamir, Parrikar minced no words while spelling out as to what lies ahead for the Governor: "The Governor should hold programmes throughout the state entirely on his own responsibility." He was addressing a press conference yesterday at the party headquarters in the city. A first step in this direction, which the BJP proposes to take, will be the boycott of the customary tea party hosted by the Governor on the laws of the Raj Bhavan to commemorate the Republic Day celebrations. "The BJP is boycotting the Governor's customary tea party at the Raj Bhavan and requests all invitees not to go to the Raj Bhavan. We appeal to the invitees to boycott the tea party and, if possible, let some of them declare so openly," Parrikar remarked. The 'mass campaign' is slated to commence from February 1 and will continue at least till February 17, informed the opposition leader. Based on the response, the party also has the leeway to extend the campaign beyond Febrary 17. It has been divided into two parts: programmes at the panchayat level aimed at creating an awareness about the Governor's actions vis-a-vis proroguing the House, which will mark Phase I of this campaign. Meanwhile, a house-to-house signature drive seeking the ouster of the Governor in a drive coined 'Jamir - Quit Goa' will form a part and parcel of Phase II of this campaign. "We have invited national leaders of our party. The plan is to hold at least one public programme at the panchayat level to highlight the murder of democracy and the fraud on the Constitution by the Governor," said Parrikar while explaining the thrust behind organising this campaign. That the party is still livid and fuming over the role of the Governor and the Speaker in the recent political logjam to hit the state became amply clear when Parrikar repeated hsi changes against both these personalities. These were Parrikar's opening remarks at the press conference: "We feel that the role in the current crisis of both, the Speaker and the Governor, who are supposed to uphold the Constitution of India, have been dubious. If nothing is done to expose them, Indian democracy will be in peril." Later, answering questions posed by mediapersons, Parrikar ruled out the possibility of the BJP exploring legal options for bringing the Governor to book. He took support of the Supreme Court judgement in the Bommai case to point out that the floor of the House was the right place to prove the majority of any government. Reacting sharply to Chief Minister Digambar Kamat's accusation that the BJP as responsible for pulling down the government in collusion with the rebels, Parrikar posed a few questions in response, which he wanted Kamat to answer: "Why was the House adjourned and later prorogued, why were the Finance and Appropriation Bills not passed and why could Digambar Kamat not complete the business as scheduled before the house? "My responsibility is to ensure that the government is taken to task and see that minority governments do not function in Goa," was his repartee to Kamat's charge. While the BJP proposes to heat up the political atmosphere against the Governor in the state, Parrikar said this issue will also be followed up at the national level thereafter. Insofar as the Speaker's role is concerned, the Opposition leader vowed to expose it with ample evidence on the floor of the House. Party general secretary-cum-spokesperson Govind Parvatkar and former Tivim MLA Sadanand Shet Tanavade were also present for the press conference. * * * http://www.navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=012415 Law Minister defends Governor's role during crisis NT Staff Reporter Panaji, Jan 23 The Law Minister, Mr Dayanand Narvekar has defended the actions of the Governor, Mr S C Jamir, during the recent political turmoil witnessed in the state even as he denied any wrong doing on the part of the Governor and urged those blaming him to stop the tirade against him. Addressing reporters on the sidelines of a function to mark the merger of the Save Goa Front into the Congress, Mr Narvekar, who is also the Finance Minister, said that the Governor discharged his duties in accordance with the provision of the Constitution and acquitted himself well and in non-partisan manner. Recalling the events as they took place on last Wednesday (January 16), the senior Congress leader said that though the rumours of three ministers having resigned from the cabinet spread all over nothing was known officially. He said that an emergency cabinet meeting was called at 8 p.m, on that day and was attended by all except three cabinet ministers. He said that the Chief Secretary was asked before the start of meeting to verify whether there was instability in the state and that his (Chief Secretary's) inquiries with the Raj Bhavan revealed that Governor's office was not informed of any such happening. "It was only after that we decided to pass a resolution to prorogue the House and also to increase the limit of contingency fund from Rs 30 crore to Rs 200 crore," said Mr Narvekar. He further said that it was only at 11.40 p.m that the Governor's office received fax copies of three ministers' resignation. He defended the decision to prorogue the House by saying that any government that has the right to call for the session of the House as right to prorogue it, even as he denied there was any sort of instability then saying that no one came to stake claim to form an alternative government nor was the Governor's office informed of any such situation. As regards to raising the limit of contingency fund, Mr Narvekar said that it was also done as per the provision of existing laws, even as he brought to the notice of the reporters that Ms Manohar Parrikar, the then chief minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, had also resorted to similar means in 2002 and the amount of contingency fund was then raised to Rs 2,000 crore from Rs 10 crore. He urged those behind the tirade against the Governor to stop maligning his name by accusing him of being partisan when he had discharged his duties as per the provision of the Constitution.