Friday, March 4 2005 09:35 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Panaji: With the numbers game weighed against him, Goa Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane seeks a vote of confidence on the floor of the Assembly today (Mar 4, 2005).

Ruling Congress' strength is 16 members, excluding Protem Speaker Francisco Sardinha, in a House with an effective strength of 34 while Opposition Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has 17 MLAs supporting it.

Under the circumstances, the fate of a disqualification petition filed by Congress member Jitendra Deshprabhu against United Goan Democratic Party (UGDP) MLA Mathany Saldanha, a saffron supporter, could play a crucial role. With it, the role of Sardinha will be in sharp focus.

If Saldanha is disqualified or barred from voting, it would mean the strength of BJP benches is reduced to 16 and at par with Congress and Sardinha belonging to Congress can see the ruling party through with his casting vote.

Independent MLA and former Deputy Chief Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues, who was disqualified by former Speaker Vishwas Satarkar of BJP, has approached Sardinha for certified copies of the order of his disqualification and is likely to approach the High Court for relief.

The BJP has questioned the role of protem Speaker in conducting the trust vote saying a Speaker who has not been elected by the House cannot conduct such a business nor can he entertain petitions.

This is the second time this week that the Assembly has been called for taking a vote of confidence, the first time being on Monday (Feb 28, 2005). However before the vote of confidence could take place, Satarkar and Deputy Speaker Narhari Haldankar quit their posts and the Assembly had been adjourned sine die.

The Rane Government, which was sworn in on February 2 soon after the dismissal of BJP-led Government headed by Manohakar Parrikar, had been given 30 days to prove its majority on the floor of the House by Governor S C Jamir and that deadline expires tomorrow (Mar 5, 2005).

This is the third time in a month that Goa Assembly will witness a vote of confidence, indicating the turbulent politics, frequent change of party loyalties by MLAs and fragile majority of the parties in power.