Panaji: The united Opposition turned into a divided house on Thursday, the first day of the winter session of the state legislative assembly, over the protest against the government’s decision to hold a short session.
Of the seven Opposition members, some came to the House wearing black clothes, while some Congress legislators came in white outfits with black armbands.
Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai said that on Wednesday he had tried to call all the Opposition members, including Revolutionary Goan Party MLA Viresh Borkar, to urge them to wear black dress to protest against the government.
When Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai went to the podium to start his customary address, Opposition leader Yuri Alemao pointed out as to how the Kerala legislative assembly meets for an average of 50 days a year, while Goa’s average is only 26 days.
Alemao was however stopped by Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar by giving him a warning.
The Opposition MLAs rose and tried to protest. When the Governor started his address amidst chaos, Congress MLAs Alemao, Altone D’Costa, Carlos Ferreira as well as Aam Aadmi Party MLAs Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva walked out of the House while Sardesai continued attending the address holding a placard in hand.
Some of the legislators who had walked out returned to their seats, thus indicating that the Opposition unity had shattered because of the lack of co-ordination and poor floor management visible inside and outside the House.
Alemao, as the Opposition leader, did not accompany the Governor out of the House, with such an incident taking place for the first time in the history of the Goa legislative assembly.
During a press conference when mediapersons asked about the lack of coordination among Opposition benches vis-Ă -vis the walkout, the Opposition leader said that he was not the father of the Opposition.
“As Congress MLAs, they walked out from the House in protest against the government,” he said.
Sardesai said there was no discussion among the Opposition members over walking out of the assembly.
