Lavoo fumes as Sudin kept out of Opa function

Ponda: The bitterness some Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) leaders have against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was evident at a government function on Friday when Ponda MLA Lavoo Mamledar took on the government and even questioned how the Panaji MLA Sidharth Kuncolienker (BJP) was invited for the function at Opa in Ponda.
At the inaugural of the barrage at Opa for which water resources minister Dayanand Mandrekar was the chief guest, Mamledar first questioned why the PWD minister Ramkrishna Dhavalikar alias Sudin, who is the minister in-charge of water supply in the state, was not invited.
Next, he asked how the government had invited and included Kuncolienker’s name in the newspaper advertisement issued by the government about the function. Sarcastically, he said he had seen Kuncolienker’s work and that he could be the next CM of the (MGP-BJP) alliance.
Kuncolienkar, in his speech, said that he was there as the water from Opa goes to Panaji consumers. To this, Mamledar later asked if that was the case, then why wasn’t Pandurang Madkaikar not invited as the water caters to Cumbarjua constituency too.
Indicating strained relations between the two parties before the alliance talks begin for the 2017 polls, the Ponda MLA took umbrage to Dhavalikar not being invited for the function. Observers say that for some time now, there has been strong undercurrents of dislike for the BJP by the MGP leaders. Recently, MGP leaders said that demonetization was a good decision but the implementation could have been better. Regarding the latest decision to ban recruitments in the government when interviews had been conducted, the MGP said that their two ministers in the cabinet had not been consulted on the decision before it was finalized.