Goa's MGP petitions High Court, says Parrikar, two other BJP MLAs terminally ill

The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, a part of the BJP-led ruling alliance in Goa, has filed a petition before the High Court saying that three BJP legislators including Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar were terminally ill and in no position to attend the assembly session if convened for a floor test.

The petition, which was filed before the Panaji Bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday and released to the media on Tuesday, also alleges that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had triggered defections from the Congress to ensure that it could not claim a majority and a right to form the government.

The petition, filed by Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) leader Satyawan Palkar, also requested the court to set aside Goa Speaker Pramod Sawant's order accepting the resignations of two former Congress MLAs (who subsequently joined the BJP) and also debar them from contesting any elections for six years.

"After the government formation, CM Manohar Parrikar has remained terminally ill and was hospitalised, either abroad, or in New Delhi as well as in Goa Medical College. Two other (former) Ministers namely, Francisco D'Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar, have also remained terminally ill and hospitalised for almost a year," says the petition in which the Election Commission of India, Chief Electoral Officer, Goa, Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly, Secretary Legislature and former Congress MLAs Subhash Shirodkar and Dayanand Sopte have been named as respondents.

"Another MLA Jose Luis Carlos Almeida, representing Vasco-da-Gama Constituency from Bharatiya Janata Party, also continues to be ill. With the sickness of the aforesaid elected representatives, the political situation in Goa continues to be fluid," the petition stated.

MGP leader Palkar, through his petition, said that none of the MLAs battling illness can attend the assembly proceedings, even if convened.

The ruling combine does not want power to be transferred to the Congress at any cost. They have taken such steps, whereby the Congress cannot claim majority and a right to form the government in the state.

The ruling BJP wants to either increase its number of seats in the assembly or go in for fresh elections, the petition said.

Parrikar is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi for nearly nine months. He returned from New Delhi's All-India Institute of Medical Sciences on October 14 and has not moved out of his private residence, for any official event since.

The BJP and the Congress currently have 14 MLAs each in the 38-member state assembly, while the MGP and Goa Forward (both ruling allies) have three MLAs each.

The state assembly also has three independent MLAs and one MLA from the Nationalist Congress Party, all of whom support the treasury benches.

--IANS

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