08-06-2007, 03:07 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>As Pratibha ignores Goa MLAs' plea </b>
Pioneer.com
Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi
...GDA threatens to stage dharna at Rajghat
The change of guards at the Rashtrapati Bhavan has begun to pinch the Opposition. Gone are the days when the Opposition had easy access to the then President APJ Abdul Kalam. Now, seeking an appointment with President Pratibha Patil is turning out to be an uphill task for the Opposition leaders.
In an indication of this change, the members of the Goa Democratic Alliance (GDA), led by its chairman and independent MLA Anil Salgaocar, have so far not been granted an appointment with the President even though they knocked at the door of the Rashtrapati for three days in a row last week.
The GDA leaders arrived in New Delhi last week, met Home Minister Shivraj Patil, and are awaiting an elusive appointment with the President to seek her urgent intervention in Goa's political crisis.
The GDA members, 21 in all, including 14 BJP MLAs, two each from UGDP and MGP and Save Goa Front, and Anil Salgaoncar made request for an appointment with the President on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. But so far, there is no indication that the President was willing to hear their grievances against "murder of democracy" in Goa.
On the other hand, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat was given an audience with the President within hours of his making a formal request. Sources said that Kamat placed a request for a meeting with Pratibha Patil on the evening of July 31, and he was invited at Rashtrapati Bhavan on the very next day.
<b>"It is unfortunate that the GDA leaders' request for meeting with the President has not been entertained," </b>said BJP leader and in-charge of Goa affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudi, adding, "the GDA leaders made three requests in three days, but got no response."
Asserting that Goa's political crisis needed urgent intervention by the President, Rudi pointed out that as long as former President APJ Abdul Kalam was in office, the door of Rashtrapati Bhavan were open even to the commoners.
"We feel aggrieved that an entire political delegation from a State has not been granted an audience by the President," he said.
<b>The President's indifference to the Opposition could compel the GDA leaders to go on an agitational path.</b> Sources said that GDA leaders were planning to sit on a dharna at Rajghat to draw the attention of the country towards the partisan attitude of the constitutional authorities towards the grievances of the Opposition.
Rudi said that even after GDA leaders met Goa Governor SC Jamir and Home Minister Shivraj Patil and presented irrefutable evidence about the illegality of Assembly Speaker Pratapsinh Rane's decision to restrain three MLAs from taking part in the floor test, so far they have not taken any step to investigate the matter.
<b>"It seems that the entire Government and its constitutional wings are hand in glove in committing the 'murder of democracy' in Goa," </b>Rudi said.Â
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Pioneer.com
Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi
...GDA threatens to stage dharna at Rajghat
The change of guards at the Rashtrapati Bhavan has begun to pinch the Opposition. Gone are the days when the Opposition had easy access to the then President APJ Abdul Kalam. Now, seeking an appointment with President Pratibha Patil is turning out to be an uphill task for the Opposition leaders.
In an indication of this change, the members of the Goa Democratic Alliance (GDA), led by its chairman and independent MLA Anil Salgaocar, have so far not been granted an appointment with the President even though they knocked at the door of the Rashtrapati for three days in a row last week.
The GDA leaders arrived in New Delhi last week, met Home Minister Shivraj Patil, and are awaiting an elusive appointment with the President to seek her urgent intervention in Goa's political crisis.
The GDA members, 21 in all, including 14 BJP MLAs, two each from UGDP and MGP and Save Goa Front, and Anil Salgaoncar made request for an appointment with the President on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. But so far, there is no indication that the President was willing to hear their grievances against "murder of democracy" in Goa.
On the other hand, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat was given an audience with the President within hours of his making a formal request. Sources said that Kamat placed a request for a meeting with Pratibha Patil on the evening of July 31, and he was invited at Rashtrapati Bhavan on the very next day.
<b>"It is unfortunate that the GDA leaders' request for meeting with the President has not been entertained," </b>said BJP leader and in-charge of Goa affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudi, adding, "the GDA leaders made three requests in three days, but got no response."
Asserting that Goa's political crisis needed urgent intervention by the President, Rudi pointed out that as long as former President APJ Abdul Kalam was in office, the door of Rashtrapati Bhavan were open even to the commoners.
"We feel aggrieved that an entire political delegation from a State has not been granted an audience by the President," he said.
<b>The President's indifference to the Opposition could compel the GDA leaders to go on an agitational path.</b> Sources said that GDA leaders were planning to sit on a dharna at Rajghat to draw the attention of the country towards the partisan attitude of the constitutional authorities towards the grievances of the Opposition.
Rudi said that even after GDA leaders met Goa Governor SC Jamir and Home Minister Shivraj Patil and presented irrefutable evidence about the illegality of Assembly Speaker Pratapsinh Rane's decision to restrain three MLAs from taking part in the floor test, so far they have not taken any step to investigate the matter.
<b>"It seems that the entire Government and its constitutional wings are hand in glove in committing the 'murder of democracy' in Goa," </b>Rudi said.Â
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