Goaâs new CM out in the cold --- Deccan Herald Feb 9, 2005 PANAJI, DHNS:
It took Congress Legislature party leader Pratapsingh Rane barely six hours to step into the chief ministerâs shoes after last weekâs dramatic turnaround of political events, when he was sworn in as the new chief minister on February 2.Getting recognition from Goa Speaker Vishwas Satarkar has been quite another matter. âHow will Mr. Rane function if the Speaker refuses to recognise him as the leader of the House?â wondered Goa BJP leader Rajendra Arlekar. In fact Mr. Rane continues to operate from the Opposition leaderâs chamber in the state assembly complex and a letter written to the Speaker by Chief Secretary D S Negi, asking that Mr. Rane be allowed to occupy the chief ministerâs plush cabin there, has so far been cold-shouldered. Mr Negi confirmed that the letter had been sent and said he had not received a reply from the Speakerâs office. Mr. Rane was somewhat pragmatic about the matter. He said, âWithin the Speakerâs domain, the executive cannot do what it wants.â This curious turn of events has come about because the previous government decided to shift offices out of the Adil Shah palace in Panjim that has served as Goaâs secretariat for over 40 years, to the assembly complex. The new secretariat at Porvorim does not have cabins for ministers who were functioning from their offices in the assembly building. The government is now preparing to shift base back to the palace where cabins are being readied. Till then, Mr. Rane will have to suffer the indignity of being accorded his old status. Posted by C Rodrigues Navelim
