United Goans Party
United Goans Party | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | UGP |
Founder | Jack de Sequeira |
Founded | September 1963 |
Merger of | Indian National Congress |
The United Goans Party is a political party in
Formation
After Goa's accession into the Indian union in 1961, Goa became a union territory with its own legislature. Elections to the state assembly were scheduled to be held in 1963. There were calls from many sections in Goa and the neighbouring state of Maharashtra to merge the tiny state into Maharashtra. This demand was spearheaded by the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.
Sensing that the merger would mean the gradual disappearance of Goa's distinct identity and culture, four parties merged to form the United Goans Party in September 1963. The four parties were the Partido Indiano,
Performance in elections
In the first elections held in 1963, the MGP secured 16 from a total of 30. UGP put up candidates in 24 constituencies and secured 12 and formed the opposition. Two seats, one from
The Church supported the
Role in the Goa Opinion Poll
Following MGPs victory in the first election, the MGP demanded that Goa be merged into Maharashtra. The MGP wanted that the issue should be voted in the Goa legislature, as was the norm in a representative democracy. The UGP was of the opinion that such an important decision should not be left to them MLAs but should be put before the people of Goa to decide. If the merger was to be voted in the Goa legislature, it was a foregone conclusion that the MGP with its majority would push through the merger.
The UGP MLAs visited New Delhi several times to convince them to hold a referendum in Goa. First they met Jawaharlal Nehru; and after his death, met Lal Bahadur Shastri to press for a referendum.[5]
However Shastri died in 1966 in
The UGP demanded that all people from Goa, regardless of where they were staying in India, should be allowed to vote. Those staying outside Goa could vote by postal ballot. However this request was denied. They also demanded that all deputationinsts from Maharashtra should not be allowed to vote and that the Bandodkar ministry should resign to conduct a free and fair poll. The centre conceded the demand for Bandodkar's resignation.
The
First split
A section of UGP MLAs were unhappy with the very idea of an Opinion Poll. A splinter group of four MLAs headed by
Second split
In 1977,
Decline
The UGP had never won an election. It split, first in 1967 and the second time in 1977. Its decline (1977–1989) corresponded with the rise of the Congress, a national party which did not win any seat in the first elections.[8] Finally it merged with the Congress.
See also
- Goa Opinion Poll
- Dr. Jack de Sequeira
- Erasmo de Sequeira
- Dr. Alvaro De Loyala Furtado
- Atanasio Monserrate
- United Goans Democratic Party
- Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party
References
- ^ ISBN 978-81-7017-005-1. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
- ^ "The Navhind Times ePaper | Goa News".
- ^ "GoaCentral.Com > History of Goa". Retrieved 2009-05-21.
- ^ Seminar, Issues 65-76. 1965.
- ^ "MERGER CONFLICT: Legislative or people ?". Archived from the original on 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
- ^ "The Results & Post-Mortem". Archived from the original on 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
- ^ Faleiro, Valmiki. "UGP DEMISE". goanet. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- ^ deSOUZA, PETER RONALD. "Democracy's inconvenient fact". Retrieved 2009-05-21.