By IANS,
Panaji: Two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ministers resigned from the Congress-led Goa government Monday, two days before the start of the assembly’s budget session, state party president Surendra Sirsat said.
Speaking to reporters in Panaji late Monday evening, Sirsat said that the resignations of revenue minister Jose Phillip D’souza and tourism minister Nilkanth Halarnkar were submitted on the instructions of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar “because of the lack of development in Goa over the last few months”.
“Both the ministers have expressed their regret and disgust over the lack of development in Goa during past few months under the Digambar Kamat-led government and have therefore tendered their resignation,” Sirsat told reporters.
The resignation follows a nearly four-month stand-off involving the two ministers, who had refused to tender their resignations despite a direction from Pawar.
The resignations of D’souza and Halarnkar come just before the three-week-long budget session which begins March 16.
All three NCP legislators in the 40-member Goa assembly have been allegedly involved in controversy.
NCP legislator and former tourism minister Mickky Pacheco was forced to resign after he was accused in the murder of his alleged lover Nadia Torrado. Pacheco also has cases of extortion, assault, bigamy and cheating against him.
Halarnkar has been accused by Right to Information (RTI) activists of de-notifying government land and selling it at a low price to a trust run by him.
D’souza has been accused by the opposition of being part of a public distribution system scam.
The Congress has 20 legislators, the Bharatiya Janata Party 14, the NCP three and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) has two. There is one independent legislator. Both the MGP and the NCP are partners in the Congress-led coalition government.