GDA members leave for Delhi to parade before President

Panaji, July 27 (UNI) In a significant development, all the 21 legislators belonging to the nascent Goa Democratic Front of the anti-Congress coalition, led by Leader of the opposition Manohar Parrikar, today airdashed to Delhi to project their strength to the President at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The legislators, accompanied by former advocate general Sushant Nadkarni, left for Mumbai by an Indian Airlines flight enroute to Delhi this evening after calling on Governor S C Jamir here, demanding dismissal of the Digambar Kamat government.

Sources said this was a bid to avoid poaching, allegedly by the Congress lobby, besides showing their strength before President Ms Pratibha Patil. All the members would be paraded before her tomorrow, sources added.

The members included BJP-14, MGP and SGF two each, Independent-1 (Anil Salgaoncar-GDA chairman), UGDP-1 and Congress rebel and lone woman member of the 40-member Legislative Assembly Victoria Fernandes who had submitted her resignation on July 25 to the Speaker.

The sources said Speaker Pratapsinh Rane allegedly avoided receiving her resignation letter ''in person'' as required under rules though she went to the Assembly complex on appointment to meet him today. She continued to be member of the House as long as her resignation was not accepted under due procedure, including hearing her prayer.

If the Congress Legislature Party condones her within a fortnight of filing disqualification petition on July 24, the question of entertaining the petition would not arise.

But Fernandes did not seek condonation of the CLP, instead she rebelled against the party for ill-treatment she had received all through, despite being the only woman member in the House, she said.

UNI