TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: Even as the Maem Bhuvimochan Nagrik Kruti Samiti continues its chain hunger strike, seeking an end to the impasse over the Mayem evacuee property issue, a group under the banner of Mayem Mandal Samiti handed over a memorandum to the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar seeking a solution to the issue.
The formation of two groups ~ both apparently campaigning for the same issue, has led to questions on whether there is a split ~ engineered or otherwise, among the people who are campaigning for the cause, that too while the government hasn’t moved its feet on the issue for several years now.
Speaking to Herald, Kashinath Mayenkar who is leading the chain hunger strike under the MBNKS banner, said that the group that handed over the memorandum to the chief minister was nothing but the BJP block of Mayem which were led by the local legislator Anant Shet.
“They are the BJP block, consisting of all people close to the ruling party. Our agitation will go on. It seems there are efforts to cause a split among the Mayem residents,” Mayenkar said making no bones of what he thought were the intentions of the group that handed over the memorandum to the chief minister.
Political observers have pointed out that the strategy to get a group of villagers to hand over the memorandum to the chief minister is a stage managed exercise. They said this group will later express ‘satisfaction’ with the ‘assurance’ being given by the government and that this is a tried and tested ploy to split public opinion as well as save the government from embarrassment for failing to act on the issue.
Mayenkar and supporters had already demanded the resignation of Mayem MLA Anant Shet in the event the government fails to come up with a solution to the issue by December 19.
Speaking to Herald on the first day of their protest, the members said that Shet would join their protest if the government failed to act. Till date Shet has neither made any threat to resign if the issue is not solved nor has concurred with the view that he would join the protest.
Efforts to contact Shet, to solicit his opinion on the issue proved futile.
