MORE TROUBLE IN KAMAT MINISTRY

PANJIM: The cabinet induction imbroglio of Benaulim NCP MLA Francisco 'Mickky' Pacheco was trouble enough for Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat. Then came the revolt and threat to topple his government by ten senior Congressmen led by PWD minister Churchill Alemao.

As if that was not enough, now, veteran Congress leader Dayanand Narvekar has lashed out at Kamat and accused him of not keeping his promise of inducting Narvekar into the cabinet if charges against him were stayed.

In an angry and slightly emotional letter to Kamat on December 23, Narvekar wrote, "(That) you did not keep your promise is another story. I never made it public due to decency and decorum which responsible persons have to adhere to. Today, as you know, there are no charges against me as the high court has admitted and granted a stay on my petition from August 2008 till today. But I never asked for ministership."

Narvekar also reminded Kamat about how he had resigned when the chief minister had asked him to.

The Aldona Congress MLA has taken offence at being likened to Pacheco by his Congress colleagues. On Wednesday, Churchill and the group opposed to Pacheco's induction into the cabinet, had cited Narvekar's example saying he was dropped from the Digambar Kamat government because a lower court had framed criminal charges against him. Since that is the principle of the Congress party, how can Pacheco, who has serious cases of murder and money laundering against him, be inducted into the cabinet, the group had asked.

Narvekar is not amused at the comparison. In his letter, he wrote, "Some ministers have used words like tainted/chargesheeted, etc in the company of some ministers who are already convicted of certain offences and chargesheeted in at least two or more cases. Do they understand the difference between allegations and convictions? If they do not, then they should be out of your ministry as it is basic dictum in jurisprudence/law that everybody is innocent till proved guilty."

Narvekar has asked the chief minister to give the ministers a "lecture on political dignity and decency" and to "educate them before speaking as they are supposed to be learned or honourable ministers, MLAs and Congressmen". He also asked the chief minister to introspect over how the Congress leadership in Goa "has done injustice to me by using fabricated charges filed by the BJP government in 2001".

He also reminded Kamat that some criminal cases filed against ex-ministers by the BJP were dropped by the Kamat government. "I never asked you, like the other MLAs did, to drop the case against me. I hope better sense will prevail in the present political muddle and you will take steps to stem the rot immediately," Narvekar said. (TNN)