BJP Govt murdering democracy by shortening Assembly sessions: Goa LoP

Panaji, Dec 26 (IANS) Goa's Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao on Monday said that the BJP government has "murdered democracy" by shortening the Assembly sessions and demanded to hold the winter session for two weeks.

Alemao on Monday had convened meeting of all seven opposition MLAs (including him) to discuss joint floor management strategies to grill the state government in the Assembly session to be held from January 16 to 19.

Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai, AAP MLAs Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva, Revolutionary Goan Party MLA Viresh Borkar, along with Congress' Carlos Alvares Ferreira and Altone D'Costa, were present for the meeting held in the Secretariat.

Alemao vented ire at the government for concluding the session on Thursday, depriving them from tabling Private Members resolutions, which is usually tabled on Friday.

"Private Members resolutions are tabled on Fridays. BJP government has purposely curtailed it to four days (concluding on Thursday). This is murder of democracy. We demand that winter session should be of at least two weeks or if they are decisive of holding it for four days then it should start from Tuesday, so it concludes on Friday," Alemao said after meeting, adding Friday is an important day.

"We will be the voice of Goans irrespective of political differences. Government has failed in all aspects and hence to expose them we are together and we will remain together.

"The government is scared of opposition. Speaker should act as Speaker and not as spokesperson of ruling dispensation," he said.

"If Speaker continues with dictatorship and 'dadagiri', then we will approach the Governor and court and will make sure that justice is done to people of Goa," he said.

Sardesai criticised the way Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has "finished" legislative democracy. "He is pressurising the office of the Speaker and making him to work unconstitutionally. He is pressurising him because there are so many scams and he can't face the public. He is afraid of us despite having 33 MLAs," he said.

Earlier, during the monsoon session which was trimmed to mere 10 days, the opposition MLAs had levelled several allegations against the BJP government for not giving enough time to discuss issues.

Monsoon session was scheduled from July 11 to August 12, for five weeks, but was later curtailed to two weeks, inviting wrath from the opposition.