Goa: Congress MLAs stage walkout

July 25, 2014 01:33 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 05:33 pm IST - PANAJI

The Congress MLAs and independent Vijay Sardesai walked out of the Goa House during the question hour on Friday after Speaker Rajendra Arlekar declined to accept their demand that Minister for Cooperation Deepak Dhavlikar must clarify his position >over his speech in the House on Thursday hoping that Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India will develop into a Hindu nation.

As soon as the question hour began, on Friday, the fourth day of the monsoon session and the Speaker called for question hour, the agitated Congress MLAs led by Leader of Opposition Pratap Singh Rane rose to their feet and tried to stall the question hour demanding an explanation from the Minister. 

Mr. Rane said that the Minister had taken the oath under Constitution of India which swears by a “Secular Socialist Democratic Republic” in its preamble. 

The Speaker said that he will ask the Minister to clarify his remarks after the question hour. The Congress MLAs continued their din despite repeated warnings from the Speaker and then walked out of the House.

On Thursday, Minister Deepak Dhavlikar belonging to regional outfit of Maharashtrawadi Goamntak Party (MGP), an alliance partner of Bharatiya Janata Party government expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would develop India into a Hindu State in the future if he gets unstinted and full support and backing from “all of us.”

Mr. Dhavlikar was speaking in the State Legislative Assembly on a congratulatory motion tabled by two ruling alliance MLAs congratulating Mr. Modi and BJP for sweeping the Lok Sabha polls 2014 and forming a government at the Centre.

In his speech in Konkani language, Mr. Dhavlikar stated, “If all of us support him (Mr. Modi), if all of us stay behind him and fully assist and cooperate with him with vigour, then it will not be difficult to establish a “Hindu Rashtra” in India in near future, the way India came to be known in the past.”

The MGP which was in power in Goa for first 16 years post liberation is considered a Hindu-mass-based soft Hindutva party. The party has three MLAs of which two Dhavlikar brothers are Ministers. A few days back senior Minister of MGP and elder brother of Mr. Dhavlikar, Mr. Ramkrishna Dhavlikar, had courted controversy over opposition to pub culture and to wear bikinis.

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