Murder of democracy in Goa, says Shiv Sena

Terming the formation of a BJP government in Goa as nothing short of "murder of democracy", the Shiv Sena on Wednesday said it was a fraud on people's mandate.

In an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana and Dopahar Ka Saamana, it pointed out that even the majority support in the 40-member Goa assembly claimed by the BJP before forming the government appeared to be fixed.

"The smaller parties gave letters of conditional consent to the Governor that they would support the BJP only if Manohar Parrikar became the Chief Minister... Though it would been difficult for the BJP to select a CM from among its 13 elected legislators," the Sena said.

The sad part was that the parties which have extended support to the Bharatiya Janata Party have been elected on an "anti-BJP plank" in the assembly election in which the BJP trailed the Congress.

While admitting that people in Goa had selected the "unworthy" Congress, it said the party was "slow to react" and lost out in the numbers game to the BJP which acted quickly.

On Parrikar, the Sena opined that either he had become a liability in the Modi government or he himself felt disillusioned by national politics and sought the comfort of his home state.

"Even when Parrikar was the Defence Minister, he spent more time in his home state and would issue empty threats to Pakistan."

The Sena asked Parrikar to remember that the BJP had been voted out by the people in the state and the latest developments were simply beyond the public expectations.

"While the result of the vote of confidence on Thursday appears inevitable, all this can only be termed as a 'murder of democracy' in Goa."

--IANS

qn/mr