We tried hard but BJP moved faster than us: Digvijaya Singh

Recounts drama on the night of March 11-12, says state leaders should take bulk of blame

It was a long night for the Congress party managers who tried hard last Saturday to secure a majority in the Goa Assembly but lost the game by sunrise to some deft moves by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strategists.
 

In an interview to this newspaper, Digvijaya Singh, in-charge of Goa affairs at the All India Congress Committee, gave a blow-by-blow account of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering, defending himself against the charges being made by local party leaders.

According to Singh, soon after the Assembly election results were out last Saturday, he'd called a meeting of the new Congress lawmakers but had to postpone the session to the next day, as only five or six of them could arrive.

Meanwhile, he was working the phones on the night of Saturday. And, around half an hour after midnight, he went to meet Goa Forward Party (GFP) leader Vijay Sardesai. The latter had some reservations on a particular party MLA becoming the chief minister. And, apparently said his party would support the Congress if this condition was met.

Rahul Gandhi, the Congress' national vice-president, monitoring the situation from Delhi, was apprised of this. Right after, he spoke to Sardesdai and assured the GFP leader his concerns would be addressed. 

Around the same time, BJP managers were at work in both Delhi and Goa. Uttar Pradesh leader B B Singh, who heads the All India Wrestlers Association, was told to quickly get in touch with Sardesai, who also heads the Goa Wrestlers Association. 

And, convince him to support the party. Negotiations went on between 4 am and 7 am on that night of March 11-12; a deal was struck by sunrise.

Singh alleges Goa governor Mridula Sinha violated the Constitution by inviting BJP chief ministerial nominee Manohar Parrikar first to stake claim for government formation, when the Congress had emerged as the single largest party, with 17 of the 40 seats in the Assembly. 

The Congress then approached the Supreme Court to stop the swearing-in ceremony of Parrikar on Tuesday but the apex court allowed it, asking the CM to prove his majority on Thursday. And, Parrikar did, a trust vote in which Congress MLA Vishwajit Rane abstained. Digvijaya Singh said he was surprised that while Rane signed the Congress whip on Wednesday, mandating all to be present in the House, he was missing during the Thursday voting. Hours later, Rane announced he'd quit the Congress and blamed Singh for the fiasco. 

According to Singh, Rane had earlier abstained from the meeting of party MLAs on Sunday; instead, he was having coffee with Parrikar in a hotel. But, on Friday, a day after Rane, son of former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane, quit, another party MLA, Savio Rodrigues, also resigned from the Congress. And, blamed the central leadership and Digvijaya Singh for not acting in time to form a government in Goa. Singh dismisses Rodrigues as a nobody in the party.

Saying it was unfair to paint him as a villain over the Goa fiasco, Singh blames state party leaders. He says he'd suggested pre-poll pacts with the GFP and the United Goans Party, headed by Atanasio Monserratte, alias Babush. The alliance with Babush went through but the pact with Sardesai was sabotaged by the state leaders, said Singh, denting the Congress’ prospects.

He adds the Goa unit was in disarray when he was made in-charge of the party in the state some years earlier, saying only six of the nine MLAs then were active. He credits AICC secretary Chella Kumar, who assists him on Goa matters, and state leader Girish Chodankar for the 17 seats won by the party.

And, says the Parikkar government won’t last long, with only two BJP members having got cabinet berths. The rest has gone to the supporting parties, as part of the deal.

After raising questions over the role of governor Mridula Sinha, he plans to petition President Pranab Mukherjee over the issue.