Goa CM has tough task of running coalition govt: Nitin Gadkari
"By-election results directly linked to Goa government's stability"
Panaji, May 16: Union minister Nitin Gadkari Thursday said Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant faces the tough task of running the coalition government in the state, as keeping all the alliance partners together is a challenge.
Gadkari, who was in Goa to address the party's public meeting in support of candidate Siddharth Kunkolienkar for the Panaji bypoll, said the stability of the government was an important criterion for Goa's future development as envisaged by late chief minister Manohar Parrikar.
The by-election to Panaji Assembly segment is scheduled to take place on May 19.
"While taking ahead the vision of Parrikar, the journey of chief minister Pramod Sawant is not going to be easy," he said, adding that it may be difficult for him to keep all the alliance partners together.
"Goa's pace of development will face hurdles if there is instability in the state. The results of this election (Panaji by-election) is directly linked to the stability of the government," the minister said.
Recalling the time when Parrikar agreed to resign as the Defence minister and take over the reigns of the state after the 2017 Goa Assembly elections, Gadkari said the late CM had done a great sacrifice for the people of the state by giving up the post in central cabinet.
He said he was personally against Parrikar's return to Goa politics.
"But Parrikar had Goa in his heart. He always wanted to work for the people of the state," Gadkari said.
The by-election to Panaji Assembly constituency is necessitated due to the death of Parrikar on March 17, 2019.
Taking a dig at the Congress, Gadkari said the opposition party has fielded a candidate who has all the qualities.
The minister was referring to the criminal cases, including rape, against Congress's Panaji bypoll candidate Atanasio Monserratte.
He also said that former Goa RSS chief Subhash Velingkar is contesting on the Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) ticket to defeat the BJP candidate, "which is unfortunate.''
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Trump’s fresh threat to bomb Iran amid reports of deal to end war
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened Iran with more bombing if it doesn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz, amid a report that the warring sides were nearing an agreement to end the war.
US media outlet Axios reported, quoting US officials and two other sources, that the US and Iran were getting close to a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war and set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations.
The US expects Iranian responses on several key points over the next 48 hours, Axios reported, adding that nothing has been agreed yet. This was the closest the parties had been to an agreement since the war began.
"Assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to, which is, perhaps, a big assumption, the already legendary Epic Fury will be at an end, and the highly effective Blockade will allow the Hormuz Strait to be OPEN TO ALL, including Iran," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
"If they don’t agree, the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before," Trump said.
According to Axios, the deal would involve Iran committing to a moratorium on nuclear enrichment, the US agreeing to lift its sanctions and release billions in frozen Iranian funds, and both sides lifting restrictions around transit through the Strait of Hormuz.
It said many of the terms laid out in the memo would be contingent on a final agreement being reached, leaving the possibility of renewed war or an extended limbo in which the hot war has stopped, but nothing is truly resolved.
