Panaji: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
on Saturday asked its two Goa Ministers to resign for alleged
anti-party activities, failing which they would be sacked from
the state cabinet.
Sharad Pawar-led party has sent a letter to Revenue
Minister Jose Philip D`Souza and Tourism Minister Nilkant
Halarnkar asking them to quit immediately.
"You have been asked to submit your resignation with
immediate effect, failing which you will be dropped from the
cabinet," the letter signed by NCP Goa Unit President Surendra
Sirsat said.
The copy of the letter was also handed over to Chief
Minister Digamber Kamat.
NCP asked the two Ministers to quit from the cabinet
on Thursday pending a party-level inquiry against them.
However, both the Ministers remained defiant, after
which NCP sent its national General Secretary Prakash
Bhingsale with a letter asking them to resign.
Bhingsale, after arriving in the state capital, held a
brief meeting with the NCP office-bearers and later rushed to
meet the Chief Minister.
NCP had initially asked Philip D`souza to quit
apparently to make way for Micky Pacheco who had resigned in
June in connection with the murder of a woman Nadia Torrado.
However, the state party leadership was miffed when both
the ministers held a closed-door meeting with some Congress
Ministers and legislators on Wednesday night which is said to
have prompted the party to seek their resignation.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister told reporters that he
would consult the party high command before dropping the two
ministers.
PTI
