Thursday, February 3 2005 15:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane today (Feb 03, 2005) accused Speaker Vishwas Satarkar of attempting to kidnap independent MLA Philipe Nery Rodrigues before the vote of confidence in the Assembly yesterday (Feb 02, 2005) but declined to comment whether his party was contemplating any action against him.

"I blame the Speaker and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) for bringing in outsiders into the House. It was a conspiracy to kidnap Rodrigues before the voting took place. There were even policemen sent to his house in an effort to intimidate him," Rane told reporters at his first press briefing after taking over as Chief Minister.

When asked whether his Government was contemplating any action against Satarkar, he said, "We have not yet thought about that. We will be sitting with our coalition partners to discuss the matter."

Alleging that Satarkar had brought in "at least 50 policemen inside the House in an attempt to kidnap Rodrigues", Rane said that he himself had requested the Speaker not to use such tactics.

Rane said, "We did not want to topple the Government. We had decided that we would take over if the Parrikar Government falls, but since they were in minority and we had one number more than them, we thought that we have to play the role as an Opposition."

"How can we have proper voting when we have strangers inside the House. The Speaker is supposed to be impartial and a guardian of law. Instead, he conspired with his party to kidnap an MLA," Rane said.

He also said that more Ministers would be inducted into the Congress-led Government in Goa.

Refusing to disclose who the Ministers will be, Rane said, "As far as the Cabinet expansion is concerned, we will inform you (press) at the right time."

Official sources confirm that the swearing-in ceremony will be held at 17:30 hrs (IST) at Raj Bhawan.

Most Congress stalwarts in the State including former Chief Ministers Francisco Sardinha, Ravi Naik and Luisinho Falerio are expected to be given berths as are the former BJP MLAs Isidore Fernandes and Panduram Madkaijar, they said.

A total of 12 members can be sworn-in in an Assembly having a strength of 40. Two Ministers, including Rane, were already sworn-in last night.