PANJIM: Not only the Opposition Congress, but the alliance partners in the government, have started gunning for PWD Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar’s head.
His brother Pandurang (Deepak) Dhavalikar’s bête noire and Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude have asked for Sudin’s resignation over the condition of the roads in the State.
“Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar is the minister for the PWD for the last 18 years. If he cannot handle the department, then he should resign immediately and the portfolio should be given to efficient people who can handle it in a better way,” Gaude said in scathing attack.
He added, “If Sudin is getting older then he should take rest at home and if at all he wants to continue as PWD minister, he should plan things properly and also make the engineers work or the department should be given to private firm for smooth functioning.”
He didn’t stop there by continued saying, “Today we can see that roads are being washed away within six months. The engineers are happy when the road is washed away so that they can re-tender it and earn from the contractor and I can prove this. If they can’t handle the work, then why do we require an engineer? I have put in my own funds for works carried out in my constituency.”
He challenged Sudin saying, “If the minister has the guts he should conduct an inquiry on these engineers and if found guilty they should be suspended.”
A week ago Rural Development (RDA) Minister Jayesh Salgaocar had been critical of Sudin’s portfolio for water-logging and potholes in his constituency.
“Haphazard development and shoddy work done by PWD has led to water logging problems and development of potholes. I have again instructed PWD to hot-mix the roads taking care to ensure that this time quality work is done,” Salgaocar had tweeted.
Thereafter, Congress was quick to jump on the opportunity and spokesperson Yatish Naik had said that roads built in the last six months have been washed away or have deteriorated.
Interestingly, there is increased speculation that Sudin is one of the leaders billed to be the successor of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
However, with the alliance partners hitting out openly against Sudin, and also his not so cordial relations with Goa Forward Supremo Vijai Sardesai, the possibility of Sudin succeeding Parrikar could remain a distant dream for now.
