Victoria withdraws her resignation letter

Panaji, Aug 16 (UNI) In yet another volte face in Goan politics, the lone woman Congress Legislator Victoria Fernandes, who triggered the crisis in Digambar Kamat-led coalition government last month by resigning from the party and the state legislature, has withdrawn her resignation letter.

The 72-year-old Victoria, popularly called as''Mommy'', told UNI that she did not mention any reason in her letter submitted to the speaker yesterday.

''I did so with the speaker dodging the acceptance of my resignation letter sent on July 25,'' she said.

She will later give further details as to why she has withdrawn her resignation, she said. The petition she filed in the Panaji bench of Bombay Highcourt challenging the speaker not accepting her resignation letter is pending.

Ms Fernandes had hurled a volley of abuses against the party leadership and the government for humiliating her by denying cabinet berth and resigned from the membership of the House, announcing her support to the nascent Anti-Congress coalition of Goa Democratic Alliance (GDA) on July 26.

She had even accompanied the 20-member GDA group to Delhi and called on the President, expressing her support to the new dispensation, terming the decision of the Speaker as ''partisan even as she was facing a disqualification petition.

The petition was filed by Chandrakant Kavlekar(Congress) for her alleged violation of the party whip by not participating in the voting on budgetary demands on July 24.

Ms Fernandes, who had fought hard to get the party ticket for the June 2 Assembly elections from her Santa Cruz constituency, surprisingly, supported her rival Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate in the recent political crisis, in spite of the fact that the latter pitted his wife Jennifer against her in Stnat Cruz on the UGDP ticket after failing to secure the Congress ticket.

Interestingly, she followed Babush and the Save Goa Front leaders again to severe her support to the GDA and again support to Kamat government.

With the withdrawal of her resignation, it has to be seen whether she would continue to hold her post of Parliamentary Secretary and whether the disqualification petition against her be withdrawn or not, political sources said.

UNI