Assembly archives intact, CM misguided: Goa Speaker

The Indian Express | 2 weeks ago | 28-06-2022 | 10:40 pm

Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Tuesday said that archives of the state Assembly were intact and that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant may have been “misguided” when he said that records of the House from 1963 to 2000 were destroyed.On Monday, Sawant had said that records of the Assembly’s first session in 1963, and up to 2000, were destroyed when the Assembly was relocated from Adil Shah Palace in Panaji to Porvorim in 2000.“I wanted to preserve them, but they were destroyed. I am sorry, this should not have happened. Since 2000, we are preserving the records and their digitisation is being done,” Sawant had said on Monday while addressing the opening of a training programme for MLAs ahead of the monsoon session next month.On Tuesday, Tawadkar told The Indian Express, “The statement is incorrect. Somebody has misguided him (Sawant). All our documents are intact. Nothing has been destroyed.”Sawant, who was the Speaker in 2017, had said, “Old records of the Assembly proceedings, including speeches of Goa’s first chief minister, Dayanand Bandodkar, were destroyed when the Secretariat was shifted from the Adil Shah Palace building to the new complex in 2000.”Tawadkar, however, said that all documents, including Bandodkar’s speeches, questions and answers, and proceedings of the Assembly were available in digitised form. He also said, “I have told him (CM Sawant) that somebody has misguided him. The statement is not correct.”

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Digambar Kamat: ‘Don’t know why Congress is seeking my disqualification. It may make some people happy if I exit the party. I have no such intention’

The Indian Express | 1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 10:40 pm

The Indian Express

1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 10:40 pm

Five months after he led the Congress’s campaign for the Goa Assembly polls, the Congress Working Committee (CWC)’s permanent member and ex-chief minister, Digambar Kamat, has now been accused by his own party of allegedly plotting with new entrant Michael Lobo and the ruling BJP to engineer the defection of eight of its 11 MLAs. The Congress is also seeking the disqualification of Kamat and Lobo as legislators. On his part, Kamat has maintained that his supporters have been upset ever since his erstwhile Leader of Opposition (LoP) position was given to Lobo in the newly-constituted Assembly. A seemingly hurt but defiant Kamat speaks to The Indian Express about the crisis raging in the Goa Congress. Excerpts:Why has the crisis hit the Congress in Goa again?To be frank, I don’t know what crisis is going on in the Congress party. I was out of Goa. I came to Goa on Saturday morning. From the airport I went straight to a religious ceremony which was attended by more than 10,000 people. I came back in the evening. In between there was a message that there was a meeting called by Mr Dinesh Rao (the AICC’s Goa in-charge) at Fortune Hotel (Panaji). I could not go because I was there (at the religious function in Cancona) and came back at 8:30 pm. Mr Dinesh Rao said he wants to meet me and came to my house later. He was inquiring if there is anything (happening)  in Goa. I said I am not aware of it. I was out of station for the last two days. He said you just talk to MLAs in case there is anything and he left. Next day I was in Margao. I didn’t even come to Panaji. At about 12:30-1:30 pm some MLAs had come to meet him. He had called them. I was not called. They then called me to ask if I was at home. I said come for lunch. Four or five people came for lunch and left.Rao called you a “conspirator with the BJP” and said you were resorting to “cheap and desperate politics”…I saw the video of Dinesh Rao’s press conference. I was shocked, surprised and stunned to see the way he was talking. People of Goa, people of Margao know me for so many years. I have seen such things before. If I had to take any such action, I had lots of opportunities in 2017, 2022. I stayed with the party when we had a clear mandate and still the party did not form the government or ask me if you can form the government and we lost the opportunity. In 2022, I was the only MLA who contested (from the Congress). And I led the party from the front. Most of the MLAs had gone. I still remained in the party. It was so much easier for me at that time (to change party). Who was going to question me?Did you meet AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik during his Goa visit. He met all the other party MLAs in Congress House.I didn’t have his number. I expected him to call me. I thought he knows me well for so many years. I thought he would at least call me and say what is happening but no…Why has your own party gone to the extent of seeking your disqualification as an MLA?I stayed with the party and led it from the front. This is the reward they are giving me now by filing a disqualification petition for anti-party activities. What anti-party activities? I am not able to understand. Whatever it is I will face it. Disqualification is something my lawyers will take care of. I won’t be bothered about it. Party should find who are the people behind this. Do they want the party to progress or do they want the party to go from bad to worse?Why would your own party want you disqualified?I don’t know. There may be some people who may be happy if I go out of the Congress. I have no such intention. I worked for the party with sincerity. Somebody says the mining lobby is behind this or the real estate lobby is behind this. Where is the mining lobby? For the last ten years there is not even a single mine that is working. Real estate is crying because of Covid. People talk anything. My hard work of so many years in the party has no value. It appears like that. You feel sad.The Congress has been stung by crisis not only in Goa but some other states too. What do you think needs to change?Party has to do a lot of introspection. We are losing election after election. Leaders are leaving the party and going. We saw a person like Kapil Sibal, who was the main Congress spokesperson at one time, leaving. Party has to sit, introspect and take remedial steps. If they are not doing that, what can I say?Does Congress need a change in leadership?I don’t want to make any statement on that. I don’t know what is happening there. I just think they should introspect.Why do you say that you are “retired hurt”?Retired hurt is not out. It means for the time being he is resting. I said retired hurt because my workers were angry because Leader of Opposition was changed.

Daily Briefing: Shiv Sena extends support to presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu; SIT to probe cases against Mohammad Zubair

The Indian Express | 1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 11:40 am

The Indian Express

1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 11:40 am

Good morning, In a fresh setback for Yashwant Sinha’s already-faltering presidential bid, the Shiv Sena has extended its support to the NDA’s presidential candidate, Droupadi Murmu. Shiv Sena chief and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray made the announcement after a meeting with party MPs, where several leaders “requested” him to support Murmu and open the door to a possible reconciliation with the BJP and the breakaway Shinde faction.Why this matters: The Opposition, including the Congress and NCP — the Sena’s MVA allies — has fielded Yashwant Sinha for the July 18 presidential polls. Uddhav’s decision comes just weeks after the MVA government led by him was pulled down by the BJP and Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde. What went wrong: It was never meant to be an extremely tight race — the Opposition had, in fact, framed the contest as a fight between two ideologies — but the campaign has unravelled faster than expected. Further, Sinha’s candidature has split the Opposition. The BSP, JD(S) and Akali Dal announced support to Murmu; ties between allies Congress and the JMM in Jharkhand are strained as the latter, which heads the government, is set to be leaning towards backing the NDA nominee.In the latest instalment of the Indian Express’ Uber Files investigation, we take a look at how the ride-hailing app signed a spree of MoUs with the Centre and many state governments a year after the rape of a 25-year-old passenger by an Uber driver. But most of these proposals remain on paper. What we found: According to records, the company’s public policy head Jordan Condo wanted Uber to “establish public-private partnerships with the government and have influence within the government invested in the success of our business”. Apart from approaching the Ministries of Social Justice and Empowerment; Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; Electronics and Information Technology, and Labour and Employment, among others, in the Centre, it also knocked on government doors in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Haryana. But all these MoUs either failed to take off or stalled after launch.India’s factory output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), came in at a 12-month high of 19.6 per cent in May, compared with a 6.7 per cent growth reported in April, partly on account of the base effect, data from the National Statistical Office showed. An Assistant Sub-Inspector was killed and two policemen injured as militants attacked a checkpoint at Lalbazar in Srinagar, amid multi-layered security cover put in place for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra. The Uttar Pradesh government formed a two-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe six cases lodged against Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair. Of the six cases, two cases are lodged in Hathras district while one case each is registered in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad and Muzaffarnagar.The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has removed some crucial data from its Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) website which include a list of NGOs whose licences have been cancelled, and the annual returns of NGOs. The MHA did not offer any official comment on this move, but officials said it was done because the data was considered “unnecessary” for public viewing.On July 5, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel launched Vande Gujarat Vikas Yatra, a two-week publicity blitzkrieg on two decades of the BJP government. Though the BJP first came to power in the state in 1995, with Keshubhai Patel as CM, the latest campaign is on the period between 2002 — when Narendra Modi took over as chief minister – and 2022. While the programme focuses squarely on the work done under the leadership of Narendra Modi as chief minister from 2001 to 2014, it makes no mention of Modi’s predecessor Keshubhai or the other two CMs of the party – Modi’s successor Anandiben Patel and Vijay Rupani.In our opinion section today, Shreenath A Khimka writes on what the Thackeray-Shinde feud means for Maharashtra: “In this grand game of political chess, Thackeray’s stalemate is likely to persist. Shinde’s Sena may turn the tables by petitioning the new Speaker to disqualify the Thackeray group. However, the real battle for the Sena’s legacy will be fought before the Election Commission.”India’s favourable demographic dividend is at an inflection point of sorts, with the population share of the youth starting to taper off even as the share of the elderly is expected to steadily surge during 2021-2036. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which experienced a rise in proportion of youth population to total population till 2021, are expected to see a decline from hereon, according to the ‘Youth in India 2022’ report released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.A former college champion in track and field, a winner at multiple national and Asian masters athletics championships, CPI (M) leader MJ Jacob bagged bronze in two hurdles — 200m and 80m — in World Masters Athletics Championship 2022 that ended in Tampere, Finland, on July 10. Jacob won medals in the 80-plus category.🤫 Delhi Confidential: When Priyanka Gandhi landed in Mumbai airport amid the political crisis in Maharashtra, the party was quick to clarify that she was only transitioning through the city on her way to Maldives to be with her daughter, who is completing an instructor level diving course there. The party was, however, silent on Tuesday when it became known that Rahul Gandhi has left for abroad again on a brief personal visit.🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we look at the political crisis faced by Congress in Goa, UN population report, and RSS on Islamic radicalization.Until next time,Rahel Philipose and Srishti Kapoor

BJP leaders asked police not to act against accused after landlord plaint: CM Ashok Gehlot

The Indian Express | 3 days ago | 12-07-2022 | 05:40 am

The Indian Express

3 days ago | 12-07-2022 | 05:40 am

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Monday that when the landlord of the Udaipur murder accused complained to the local police about the men, BJP leaders had allegedly called and asked them to not take any action against the accused.“Everybody knows how the main accused (in the Udaipur murder case) had connections with the BJP and at what level. Recently news came that the landlord of the rented place where they used to live…the landlord is also Muslim, he complained to the police that they were troubling him… some people used to come to his house, threaten, and also he didn’t get rent. Before the police could act, BJP leaders called the police station saying that he is our worker and don’t bother him,” Gehlot told reporters.Speaking on the sidelines of a joint press conference with opposition’s presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha, Gehlot said that the whole world knows that those accused of murdering tailor Kanhaiya Lal ‘were sitting on whose lap.’When asked by the media how the police, which comes under the Congress government in the state, can listen to the opposition BJP, Gehlot said, “Maine aapko ghatana batayi, ki phone gaye wahan pe. Zaruri nahin ki unki baat maani gayi ho. Jo khabrein aa rahi hai mere paas mein, wo maine share ki bas (I told you about the incident, that phone calls were made… It’s not necessary that what they (BJP) said was accepted. I just shared the news that I am getting).”When contacted, BJP MLA and deputy leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore said that Gehlot should not make ‘baseless’ allegations.“If the Chief Minister has such evidence with him that the accused are associated with any leaders of the BJP, then why he is sitting quietly? He also has ATS and other security agencies at his disposal. These types of baseless statements reduce the seriousness of the matter,” said Rathore, denying that the two accused had any connection with the BJP.The two main accused in the killing of Lal — Mohammad Riyaz and Ghouse Mohammad — had also made a video of the murder and in separate videos had said that Lal was killed as he had shared a post in support of BJP’s Nupur Sharma’s comments on the Prophet.Of the duo, Riyaz lived in a rented accommodation in Udaipur.The Congress has consistently been alleging that the two accused were associated with the BJP, an allegation that has been denied by the saffron party.Presidential poll fight against misuse of central agencies: SinhaOpposition’s candidate Yashwant Sinha on Monday said the July 18 presidential poll is a fight against the central agencies that are being misused by the Union government, PTI reported.Sinha said if he becomes the president, the misuse of central agencies will be stopped.He also alleged that the BJP and the government led by it at the Centre are “deliberately” creating an atmosphere of hate in the country.Sinha attacked the Centre over its economic policies, declining growth and the fall in rupee exchange rate.However, he said India will not see a situation like Sri Lanka.Sinha said the elections are being held in unusual circumstances.He will call the prime minister and ask him to speak on the issues which are raised by the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Sinha said referring to the demand of Ashok Gehlot that the Prime Minister should address the nation on the current situation of tension, hate and violence in the country.He also attacked the BJP over political developments in Maharashtra and now in Goa and said such development took place before the presidential election so that the number of opposition votes does not increase.He said politics based on consensus, which was there in the era of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has now ended. Now, there is politics on conflict, he said.

Newsmaker | Digambar Kamat, the sulking Goa veteran now at the centre of Cong ‘rebellion’

The Indian Express | 3 days ago | 11-07-2022 | 05:40 pm

The Indian Express

3 days ago | 11-07-2022 | 05:40 pm

In April, soon after the elections, the Congress made 68-year-old Digambar Kamat, the most senior of its 11 in MLAs a permanent member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s top decision making body.However, Kamat wasn’t happy. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the previous Assembly, he was divested of responsibilities in the state as part of the Congress’s bid to promote its Gen Next leaders – while 38-year-old Amit Patkar was made president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), Micheal Lobo, a BJP leader who joined the party just ahead of the Assembly election, was made leader of the legislature party.Kamat, the veteran who had been at the forefront of the Congress’s activities in Goa, has taken a backseat since then, describing himself as “retired hurt”.Ahead of the elections in February, Kamat was the only MLA the Congress had with it from among the 17 who were elected in the 2017 Assembly elections – while 10 MLAs defected to the BJP in 2019, veteran Pratap Singh Rane backed out ahead of the election, one joined the BJP and the other the TMC, and one MLA contested as an Independent.As party veteran and as someone who had stayed with the party when its fortunes hit rock-bottom, Kamat was seen the frontrunner for the CM post had Congress formed the government. Kamat had served as chief minister of Goa from 2007 to 2012, the last Congress government in the state.While Kamat was not named chief ministerial candidate, he had kept his hopes alive as AICC Goa in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao had said, “Everyone knows who will be the Chief Minister if the Congress forms the government.”Kamat has been elected from his fortress of Margao seven times, during which he has oscillated between the Congress and the BJP. While his journey began in the Congress, Kamat joined the BJP in 1994 and won two elections as the party’s candidate from the party. In 2005, he joined the Congress once again. In 2007, with opinion divided on whether to choose Ravi Naik or Pratapsingh Rane as CM, the party finally named Kamat as a ‘compromise’. Kamat had joined the Congress two years before he was made CM for his second stint and was reportedly instrumental in bringing down the Manohar Parrikar-led BJP government in 2005.Before becoming CM in June 2007, Kamat served as the state’s minister for power, urban development, mines and art and culture.His chief ministership was, however, chequered. Kamat was accused in a case of bribery under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Along with then PWD minister Churchill Alemao, Kamat was also booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Alemao was PWD minister from 2007 to 2012 when officials of the US-based company Louis Berger allegedly paid bribes to win a consultancy bid for water augmentation and a sewerage pipeline project in Goa under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The case under the PMLA is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate and a court has framed charges against both Kamat and Alemao.Kamat, who served as mining minister of the state for 10 years, was in 2012 indicted by a judicial commission for reportedly allowing illegal mining in the state.Before he made his debut as MLA in 1995, Kamat had served as a councillor of the Margao Municipal Council from 1985 to 1990. Kamat, who has interests in real estate, described himself as an ‘agriculturist’ in his election affidavit and declared moveable assets worth Rs 6.87 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 3.21 crore. He holds a BSc degree from Mumbai University.

Bombay to Goa, vacant posts to RS setbacks: A Cong crisis list and a listless high command

The Indian Express | 3 days ago | 11-07-2022 | 05:40 pm

The Indian Express

3 days ago | 11-07-2022 | 05:40 pm

As it appeared likely on Sunday afternoon that some Congress MLAs in Goa could switch sides and its legislature party could split, the Trinamool Congress decided to rush its senior leader Derek O’Brien to Panaji. No, the TMC doesn’t have any MLAs in Goa and has no stakes in the defection saga.The TMC, which had contested the Goa Assembly elections earlier this year in a big way and managed to get around 8% of the vote share, wanted to seize the opportunity to reiterate its campaign message that the Congress and BJP are the same and the two parties are playing a game of musical chairs.But the Congress high command waited and watched, as the sordid political drama unfolded in Goa. It was only midnight that it decided to send senior leader Mukul Wasnik to Panaji on a firefighting mission.It is not that the Congress leadership was caught unawares. “We knew the BJP was planning to make all our 11 MLAs defect. We had heard the rumours about Digambar Kamat meeting Amit Shah in Delhi,” a senior Congress leader said, while pointing out that they had managed to avoid a split. “We worked hard to avert a two-third defection. The BJP could not get eight MLAs (to achieve that). Five of our MLAs stood strongly with us,” the leader added.Another leader pointed out that AICC in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao was in Goa holding meetings with MLAs.However, that matters came to such a pass is for many leaders another proof of the high command’s failures.“The decision to appoint 38-year-old Amit Patkar, who is a close associate of his predecessor Girish Chodankar, as the PCC president and Michael Lobo, who joined the Congress just before the elections, as Leader of the Opposition obviously upset Kamat. How could you appoint a person who has just joined the party to such a post? He should not have been inducted into the Congress in the first place. What message did we give to the rank and file?” a leader said.The counter-argument is that making Lobo the Leader of the Opposition was an insurance that he would stay in the party – an argument that had no feet on Sunday as Lobo’s name led those in the rebel group.A section of the party also wondered how the high command could persist with Rao as the in-charge. “He is a lightweight. The party should have deputed someone senior who could deal with the likes of Kamat,” one leader said.But the listlessness in the Congress is not confined to Goa. Take the case of West Bengal. The party has not appointed a full-time in-charge for the state since Jitin Prasada left and joined the BJP a year ago. “There is too much casualness,” one leader said. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, it is yet to appoint a new PCC chief.The Chintan Shivir in Udaipur in mid-May was supposed to inject a fresh dose of enthusiasm in the party, and to revitalise it. But, there has been no let-up in the party hurtling from one crisis to another.First, even as the shivir was underway, senior Punjab leader Sunil Jakhar quit. The next big blow was the exit of Hardik Patel in the Assembly election-bound Gujarat. The next high-profile exit was that of Kapil Sibal, followed by Brajesh Kalappa in Karnataka. Then, Congress candidate Ajay Maken lost the Rajya Sabha election in Haryana due to cross voting.In Maharashtra too, the Congress has been jittery. Seven of its MLAs cross-voted in the MLC elections and, following the Sena split, 11 were “absent” in the trust vote that was held. The party is yet to take action against them, even as calls are growing for the same.BJP Wanted A Two-Third SplitProud that our MLAs have resisted and remained with us. They were offered huge amounts of money to defect. pic.twitter.com/NQmuiG34wX— Goa Congress (@INCGoa) July 10, 2022In Haryana, while the party removed Kuldeep Bishnoi for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls, it has yet to take action against a second MLA for the same. Bishnoi is all set to join the BJP.Congress leaders fear that trouble could come next from Jharkhand, where the party shares power with the JMM. Among rumours that the BJP is up to something in the state, the JMM has been flexing its muscles.While one leader said they had talked to the MLAs and that, “as of now, there is no reason to worry”, others do not share the optimism. According to them, two scenarios can follow. “The JMM could walk out of the alliance and join hands with the BJP. They have already snubbed us twice. They unilaterally announced their candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections,” one leader said, adding that the JMM may also end up supporting the NDA candidate in the presidential elections.A second section of leaders suspect that several MLAs (at least eight, according to one leader) are in touch with the BJP. If the number goes up to 12, then the breakaway faction would reach the two-third mark to escape provisions of the anti-defection law.While things may appear to be out of Congress hands in the matter, party leaders say it is this wait and watch, before a crisis blows up in the face, that is killing the party.

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