Panaji, Nov 17 (IANS) The Congress will raise the issue of ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's continuance in power and the impending "constitutional crisis" in BJP-ruled Goa in Parliament, party's national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said on Saturday.
The Congress leader demanded the convening of a special session of the Goa Legislative Assembly while daring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government here to prove its majority in a floor test.
"We are going to nationally put pressure on the BJP and the Centre. If necessary, we will move the President of India. We will also raise the issue inside the Parliament in the forthcoming winter session and we will say that Goa is the most classic case of a fraud being played on the Constitution of India by the Governor and the BJP government," Surjewala said at a press conference here.
"This will clear all doubts about who is in-charge in Goa and the floor test will determine as to which party has the rightful claim to head a democratic government in people's interest," he added.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) communications cell in-charge said the coastal state was suffering from a "complete breakdown of constitutional machinery".
Parrikar is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi for nearly nine months. He returned from New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences on October 14 and has not moved out of his private residence for any official event since.
The Opposition, as well ruling coalition allies have been demanding Parrikar's resignation, claiming that the administration has come to a standstill due to his absence.
On Saturday, Deepak Dhavalikar, president of ruling coalition outfit, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, demanded that Parrikar step down from the chief ministerial post and appoint a replacement.
