Congress asks Goa Governor to let it form government
Panaji, May 18: Congress leaders met Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, urging her to follow the precedent set in Karnataka and invite the Congress in Goa to form a government as it was the single largest party with 16 MLAs in the Assembly.
Emerging from the Raj Bhavan, Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar told reporters that a representation had been submitted to the Governor, requesting her to "right the past wrong" of inviting the BJP to form the government in Goa in March 2017 and now invite the 16-member Congress legislative party to form the government instead.
"We have asked her to do what the Karnataka Governor has done and invite the Congress as the single largest party to form the government in Goa. This current government has to be dismissed," Kavlekar told reporters.
Kavlekar said that the Congress in Goa was capable of forming a government and prove its majority in the 40-member Assembly if it was invited to do so by Sinha.
"She has told us that she will respond to our letter in two days," Kavlekar said.
The BJP won 13 seats in the 2017 election compared to the 17 won by the Congress, which emerged as the single largest party.
But after swift political maneuvering, the BJP staked claimed to power with two regional parties and independent MLAs and formed a coalition government after getting a swift nod from Governor Mridula Sinha.
A Congress legislator, Vishwajit Rane, subsequently quit the party and joined the BJP -- eventually to become a cabinet minister -- taking the saffron party's strength to 14 in the Assembly.
Currently, the Bharatiya Janata Party and its coalition allies have a strength of 23 legislators, with 14 from the BJP, three each from Goa Forward and Maharashtrwadi Gomantak Party and three independent MLAs.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
