RG meet ends in deadlock as heated rows erupt with MLA Borkar

Panaji: A four-hour, high-stakes disciplinary meeting between RG’s core executive committee(CEC) and St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar ended in a deadlock and had to be adjourned without resolution.

A decision about the party’s future and the president’s post also evaded conclusion.

The CEC had convened to address disciplinary action initiated against Borkar, who has been at the centre of the party’s prolonged internal crisis. The meeting began just after 6.50pm, but ran aground before it could even reach key agenda items, including a discussion on the party president’s resignation.

“The meeting has been adjourned, and no decision has been taken,” RG treasurer Ajay Kholkar confirmed, adding that office-bearers would reconvene at a later date. “The MLA is ours and we speak to him with love and sometimes in anger.”

Borkar struck a conciliatory tone after emerging from the meeting. “I gave my clarifications and discussed ways for the party to go forward. I will cooperate with the CEC. I want this issue to be resolved,” he said, acknowledging that differences had surfaced during the discussions.

The meeting was marked by bitter taunts, anger and a lot of blame thrown by both sides. Discussions over the party’s accounts, Borkar’s meeting with the South Goa party members, and claims about the party being split also surfaced during the lengthy meeting.

This prompted founding member Prashant Pagi to question the party’s respect for its lone MLA. “It is shocking — the low level of treatment meted out to the party MLA. Nobody will go for a meeting if he is going to be humiliated,” he said, warning that the public was watching the party unravel from within.

A small group of RG supporters gathered outside the party office during the meeting, many expressing dismay over the party’s trajectory, particularly the exit of founder Manoj Parab. South Goa block committee members also squarely blamed the CEC for the crisis engulfing the party.