Goa Governor pressurised to go against her wish: Congress leader

Congress Secretary Girish Chodankar on Sunday said he had the feeling that Goa Governor Mridula Sinha was pressurised to act against her wish.

"She seems to be a very innocent lady, a renowned writer. She has a lot of literature to her credit. She is an idealistic character. I have full respect for her. I am feeling she has been pressurised to do something against her own wish," Chodankar told the media here.

He said: "She will resign of her own volition, because she is grappling with her conscience over her decision on March 12 to invite the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the new government in Goa, which was against her wish."

"When our delegation met her (this week), we observed her body language. She made no eye contact with any of our leaders. I felt she is now talking to her conscience. I was feeling very sorry for her," he said.

"... she could resign on her own because she has gone against her wish and she has done what she did not want to do," the Congress leader said.

Chodankar also made fun of the state BJP leadership for a defamation case filed against him for claiming that the BJP had paid Rs 1,000 crore to non-Congress MLAs to lure them.

"The BJP was defeated in the February 4 elections. This shows they have no fame in Goa. If they have no fame, how can they be defamed," he said.

Sinha, 74, is a noted litterateur with a number of short story collections and novels to her credit.

She was accused by the Congress of constitutional impropriety after she invited the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government in the coastal state, even though the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 17 seats.

Late on Friday, state BJP President Vinay Tendulkar submitted a police complaint that Chodankar's comments this week were "baseless" and had damaged the BJP reputation.

--IANS

maya/tsb/dg