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DECCAN HERALD=20
Monday, May 20, 2002 =20
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Cong asks for President's rule in Goa
>From Devika Sequeira
DH News Service
PANAJI, May 19
Electioneering in Goa hit a sour note after BJP Chief Minister Manohar Parr=
ikar reeling from a string of defections by his Cabinet colleagues to the r=
ival camp, adopted a negative campaign against the Congress here.
Senior Congress leaders from Delhi, out on the campaign trail here, were fu=
ming last night after Mr Parrikar released a statement alleging that the Co=
ngress planned to incite communal violence in Goa after AICC president Soni=
a Gandhi's visit scheduled for May 23.
"I have asked the police to enquire into reports that some Congress leaders=
are planning to incite communal tension in Aldona, Valpoi, Sanguem, Margao=
and Bicholim by (their) attempts to damage a mosque or a church in some co=
nstituencies," Mr Parrikar claimed on Saturday, and said that as home minis=
ter he would go in for preventive arrests if need be.
The statement which caused a stir here for its sheer audacity, was complete=
ley blacked out by the state's leading English daily. Pointing to Mr Parrik=
ar's RSS-cadre background, Congress leaders said they were not in the least=
bit surprised by his unprecendented and aggressive approach to fighting th=
e election.
"I don't know what his intention is in making such a statement, unless he i=
ntends to provoke the violence himself," Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit =
said to this newspaper. Ms Dixit who left here today after a day's flurry o=
f campaign meetings said Mr Parrikar's statement reflected the "desperation=
of a man on his way out".
That sentiment was echoed by former chief minister and Congress campaign ch=
airman Pratapsingh Rane at a press briefing today. It was unbecoming of the=
chief minister to go to this level, said Mr Rane, adding that Mr Parrikar =
"appears to have pressed the panic button in desperation".
"The statement is like Adolf Hitler burning the Reischstag, the German parl=
iament, and blaming the communists for the crime. It is not the Congress th=
at has been projected in the national and international media as communal",=
Mr Rane said.
He said the Congress had ruled Goa for 18 years without any incident. "Will=
the honourable chief minister tell us what happenend to the people who bur=
nt the mosque at Provorim during the BJP's 16 months?"
The party also accused the BJP government of violating the norms for holdin=
g fair elections, and said a brief spell of President's rule, till the new =
government comes into being had become the necessary remedy for Goa.
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=A9 Copyright, 1999 The Printers (Mysore)Ltd.=20
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