GPCC rules out reinduction of Monserrate, Madkaikar

Panaji, Aug 1 (UNI) Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) today debunked media reports of reinducting unattached legislator from Taleigao, Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate and Pandurang Madkaikar from Cumbarjua into the Cabinet.

There was also no substance in speculation of removal of finance minister Dayanand Narvekar and a South Goa minister, GPCC stated, after its executive meeting.

Asked about the development, party president Francisco Sardinha said Madkaikar, who was the only ST representative, deserved reinduction, not Monserrate, who has been a minister several times earlier.

Former transport minister Madkaikar was stripped off his portfolio to induct MGP coalition partner Ramakrishna Dhavlikar as part of the understanding reached with the partners.

It might be recalled that Babush, as minister, led coups against BJP and Congress regimes and had even resigned from the Congress party in June 2007 to contest as UGDP nominee at the eleventh hour inspite of getting the Congress ticket.

Later, he led a rebellion against the Kamat government, along with Churchill Alermao of Save Goa Front in collaboration with the BJP opposition, only to ditch out later to extend support to the Kamat government.

He had nurtured hopes that he would be reinducted into the cabinet under an agreement but this in vain as he was tainted in several land conversion scams, which led to popular ire forcing the government to stall the conversion processes under the scrapped regional plan 2011.

Since then, Babush had been working against the mega projects including the Rajiv Gandhi IT park under his constituency even as he was expelled from the UGDP for anti-party activities.

He was among the prime accused in infamous February 18 attack on Panjim police station, in which several cops were injured in a ding dong battle with brickbats, demanding action against police officers who were allegedly siding with his rival gangs.

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