M A I N   N E W S

BJP-led Goa Govt wins trust vote

PANAJI, Nov 9 (UNI) — The 17-day-old Bharatiya Janata Party led coalition government in Goa, headed by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, today won the vote of confidence in a specially summoned one-day session of the assembly here.

After the Chief Minister’s reply to the debate, the 40-member House passed the confidence motion by voice vote.

The new government was sworn in on October 24.

Governor Mohammad Fazal had directed Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to seek a trust vote before November 15 on the floor of the House.

Violence feared in Jharkhand
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 9 — With the BJP high command continuing to insist to have former Minister of State for Environment Babu Lal Marandi as the first Chief Minister of Jharkhand, there is a serious apprehension of violence breaking out on November 15 when the state comes into being.

While Bihar had asked for 15 companies of paramilitary forces to meet the law and order situation, the Centre sent seven companies, sources said.

Meanwhile, the six-time Lok Sabha MP, Mr Karia Munda, met Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee today. It is understood that Mr Vajpayee has tried to mollify Mr Munda by promising to take him into his team of Cabinet ministers.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the MCC has already declared their boycott of the official function of the swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Minister and have asked their supporters to come to Ranchi where a parallel swearing-in function is being planned for the JMM supremo, Mr Shibu Soren.

Observers said that the BJP’s strategy to have its Chief Minister for Jharkhand was backfiring now as Mr Soren’s supporters were threatening to create a major law and order problem.

Eventually, Jharkhand may be born under violent and turbulent circumstances, a BJP sympathiser said, adding that this was happening because the party had circumvented even the minimum democratic practice.

How can the party high command make it known that Mr Marandi has been handpicked as the first Jharkhand Chief Minister, a party leader commented.

Mr Munda, who was a Minister of State in the Janata Party government in 1977 and a Cabinet minister in the 13-day Vajpayee Government in 1996, was not only ignored but was humiliated, he observed.

The party high command and the Prime Minister Office now not only have to contend with an angry and sulking Mr Munda, who enjoys credibility and popularity in the Jharkhand region, but also have to address a threat of violence from MCC and JMM supporters.