Goa Congress Floats ‘Mashal Yatra’ To Protest BJP’s Failed Promises

Goa Congress
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  • PG News May 18, 2016
  • 2 Minutes Read

Goa seems gripped by a severe maelstrom of political tit-for-tat accusations, as the opposition party continues to raise fingers and accuse the reigning BJP for supporting the casino industry.

The ruckus has now reached epic proportions, with the opposition Goa Pradesh Congress Committee taking out a ‘mashaal yatra’ today, in protest of the BJP’s failure to fulfill its pre-election promises of removing the offshore casinos from the River Mandovi. The yatra will be led by Digvijay Singh, AICC general secretary and Goa observer and seems a very obvious move to influence the public into toppling the BJP government.

Comparing the protest to the BJP’s 2012 ‘mashaal yatra’ Luizinho Faleiro, GPCC president claimed that ‘thousands’ would take to the streets, unlike the paltry hundreds the BJP had garnered for its agitation.

Faleiro stated that the Congress would expose the BJP for all its false promises and said, “BJP has failed on all fronts and cheated the people of Goa with false promises on the eve of the last assembly elections.”

Pointing out to several BJP policies, Faleiro said that the shutdown of vital mining, no concrete plan of development and increase of VAT on essential commodities has depleted the state coffers. He further accused the BJP of neglecting the state youth, by not providing them with unemployment allowance as promised in their pre-election manifesto. He claimed that youth had stopped signing up with the unemployment exchange, as of the 1,50,000 registered so far, none had received any succor.

Faleiro also accused BJP leaders of bringing in outside labour and said, “The exploitation of the Goan youth is going on unabated with BJP leaders involved in the business of supplying contract labour from outside the state.

Repeating his earlier comment on Goa having become ‘Sin City’ Faleiro demanded that the casinos be removed completely.

Finally, coming to the point, Faleiro declared that the public was fed up with the current administration and wanted the Congress to take over again. Covering up for allegations of corruption against his party he claimed that, “Whether the Congress government was corrupt or not, the people say it was better than the current BJP government.”

This is not the first time that Congress has indulged in such tactics. A few days back when Manohar Parrikar, Defense Minister and earlier Goa Chief Minister had passed a comment about the Congress washing its hands in the flowing Ganges of corruption in the Augusta chopper deal, the Congress had immediately retaliated with comments that the BJP was doing the same in the River Mandovi.

Ever since the BJP has come to power, the Congress has continuously raised a hue and cry over every move of the state administration run by Laxmikant Parsekar, Chief Minister.

The casino industry was originally brought in by the Congress, before the 2012 elections. Post its takeover, the BJP has tried to walk a middle path by accepting the valuable revenues the casino industry provides the state, even as it began the process of appointing a Gaming Commissioner to ensure regulation and to protect locals by banning them from gaming areas.

As far as the relocation of the offshore casinos, the government did find four alternate sites, but these were again objected to by the Congress, which spurred local NGOs into supporting its protests.

The real truth lies in figures that don’t lie and in the fact that thousands of locals get vital sustenance from employment at these casinos, not to forget the immense draw they prove for tourism.

What would Goa be without the casino industry and what would be the fate of those thousands of locals employed there, is a question that must be asked, before blindly objecting to these tourism hubs.

While the government can certainly look at other areas of improvement, the fact remains that today, Goa is internationally known only as a beach paradise that provides a vibrant gaming and entertainment holiday time through its dozen-odd onshore and offshore casinos.

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