Goa govt may recommend dissolution of Assembly, fears Cong

The Congress in Goa Tuesday expressed fear that the BJP-led state government might recommend dissolution of the Legislative Assembly after the passage of the vote-on-account during the upcoming session scheduled to be held next week.

Congress Legislative Party (CLP) members, who met at Porvorim near here, expressed concerns over the shortness of the assembly session, saying there would be no time to discuss important issues.

The three-day-long Assembly session will begin on January 29 with the address of Governor Mridula Sinha.

"The government is holding only vote-on-account. We are worried...this might indicate that they want to dissolve the assembly," Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar told reporters in the presence of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee chief Girish Chodankar.

He said the state government had opted for "immature dissolution" of the Assembly in the past and called for fresh polls.

Kavlekar said the three-day-long session was not enough to discuss various issues plaguing the state.

He said during the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting held on Monday, he had raised the issue of this "curtailed" session.

According to the Congress leader, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had assured that this session would be a lengthier one.

"We have asked the CM to specify the dates for the next session. We can't just go by his words," he said.

"The current session is of three days, but would be curtailed to two days, as there will be no business taken up after the Governor's speech on the first day. There will be no time for discussion. I had also pointed out that last year the session was held only for 16 days," he said.

"I have demanded that the assembly sessions should be lengthier. The CM told us that he will call for next session immediately. We will be writing to the CM, asking him for the dates of next Assembly," Kavlekar stated.