Friday, June 10 2005 07:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Panaji/Surat: The Congress-led Government last night (Jun 9, 2005) appeared headed towards trouble as key coalition partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) threatened to withdraw support protesting non-inclusion of one of its MLAs in the Ministry, which is set to be expanded today (Jun 10, 2005) with the induction of seven new faces.

The NCP Goa chief Wilfred D'souza told reporters in Surat last night, "We have threatened to withdraw the support if the commitment of including our representative (Mikky Pacheco) is not honoured".

The Congress and its allies like NCP have 21 while main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and allies have 17 in the 40-member State Assembly with an effective strength of 39. One MLA Philippe Neri Rodriquez has been qualified.

D'souza charged that Congress was being "very, very communal" and Congress "is turning out to be more communal than BJP".

He said Pacheco was one of the five MLAs who had resigned from the State Assembly when BJP was in power reducing the saffron party-led Government to minority in March this year.

Out of the five MLAs, four returned triumphant in recent bypolls and if three of them could be given ministerial berths why not Pacheco, he asked.

"And why not one? Because he is Mikky Pacheco?" said D'souza alleging "this is communal, very, very communal. Congress is turning out to be more communal than BJP."

The threat by NCP came just a couple of days after a coalition Government headed by veteran Congressman Pratapsinh Rane was sworn in ending three months of President's Rule in the State and came a day ahead of expansion of the Ministry by the Chief Minister.

"There will be a Cabinet expansion at 10:30 am tomorrow at Raj Bhavan and seven Ministers will be sworn in," Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) chief Ravi Naik told reporters yesterday in Panaji but declined to name those who would be inducted into the Ministry.

"All the seven names have been cleared by the high command. There is no question of any disagreement," Naik said. He denied there was any disagreement over Ministerial berths.

Former BJP MLA's Digambar Kamat, Atanasio 'Babush' Monserratte and Pandurang Madkaikar all of whom won the bypolls on a Congress ticket are likely to be sworn-in today.

Congress sources said Mikky Pacheco's name had not been cleared by the party high command during the meeting Rane and Naik had with All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on June 7.

There is strong resentment in Goa Congress over the possibility of inclusion of Pacheco in the Ministry.

The Congress and its allies have 21 members in the Goa Assembly.