BJP TODAY

February 16--28, 2005 - Vol. 24, No. 4

Goa episode an assult on Indian democracy: BJP
Memorandum presented by Bharatiya Janata Party to the President of India on February 3, 2005

Mahamahim Rashtrapatiji,

The Governor of Goa, Shri S.C. Jamir, mounted an unprecedented assault on Indian democracy yesterday by dismissing the BJP government headed by Shri Manohar Parrikar, even though he had already proved his majority on the floor of the House. The Governor followed up this reprehensible action by immediately swearing in Shri Pratapsinh Rane of the Congress party as the new Chief Minister of Goa.

Taken together, these shocking developments represent nothing short of a coup d'état in Goa staged by the Governor for the benefit of the Congress party.

The entire sequence of events, since the appointment of Shri Jamir as the Governor of Goa till the events of last night, proves beyond any doubt that the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre had hatched a plot to destabilize the BJP government in Goa and used the high office of the Governor to bring it to fruition.

On January 31, Shri Parrikar had convened a meeting of his council of ministers and offered to face the confidence vote on February 3. However, the Governor wrote to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on February 1, asking Shri Manohar Parrikar to prove his majority the very next day - that is, on February 2. He also directed the Speaker to "communicate to me the result of the Motion of the Vote of Confidence, immediately, after the Session is adjourned."

In the trial of strength, Shri Parrikar's government got 18 votes in favour and 6 against. The verdict was clear and unambiguous. The Speaker adjourned the House at 5.45 pm. However, at 6.10 pm, the chief minister, to his utter shock, received the dismissal letter from the Governor's office. The Governor took the decision to dismiss Shri Parrikar as the chief minister without even waiting for a report from the Speaker. Thus, the Governor disregarded not only the verdict of the Assembly but also his own earlier directive to the Speaker to send his report "immediately".

Actually, as per the information available to the people through the electronic media, the Governor had dismissed the Parrikar government within minutes of the end of proceedings in the Assembly. It appears that the Governor had kept the dismissal letter ready even before the confidence vote was taken.

The BJP has always been of the view that, the question of whether or not a chief minister enjoys the support of a majority of MLAs must be tested on the floor of the House and not at Raj Bhavan. This is also the well-established convention, sanctified by the Supreme Court in the Bommai case, and further endorsed by the reports of the Sarkaria Commission and the Committee to Reviewing the Working of the Constitution.

We would like to impress upon Respected Rashtrapatiji that, under the Constitution, and also as per established norms of parliamentary democracy, the Governor has no powers to annul the ruling of the Speaker. Judiciary is the sole forum before which an appeal can be made against the Speaker's ruling.

This view has been corroborated by several Constitutional experts who have opined that the action of the Goa Governor is unconstitutional, illegal and arbitrary.

The Governor's partisan and politically motivated approach is also evident from his decision to give Shri Rane, who has been wrongfully sworn in as the chief minister, 30 days to prove his majority in the Legislative Assembly. This is in stark contrast to his earlier action of giving Shri Parrikar only one day to do the same.

It is not out of place here to mention that during its long rule at the Centre in previous decades, the Congress party had routinely misused the office of the Governor to destabilize opposition-run state governments. Thus, what has happened in Goa yesterday is only a continuation of this undemocratic tradition.

Respected Rashtrapatiji, you are the Custodian of the Constitution and the ultimate upholder of the law in the Republic of India. The Bharatiya Janata Party urges you to immediately recall the Governor of Goa for his unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary and partisan action. We also demand immediate reinstatement of the BJP government in Goa headed by Shri Manohar Parrikar.

(Atal Bihari Vajpayee)

(Lal Krishna Advani)

(Manohar Parrikar)