On Wednesday, Deshpande threatened to send home the thousands of Goan IT professionals settled down in Bangalore, while criticising demolition of illegal hutments erected by people from Karnataka, at Baina. “Don’t forget that there are 15,000 to 20,000 information technology professionals working in Bangalore,” Deshpande said after a meeting with Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar. At the meeting, he urged the chief minister to stop the demolition of illegal hutments at Baina.
“We have demanded with the party that strong action should be taken against the minister and if required an FIR be filed against him for making such a statement,” BJP spokesperson Damu Naik said.
Naik said, “There are many people from Karnataka who are working here in private sector as well as in government service too. They are working for a long time, but they reside here legally, in proper flats.”
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in Panjim, Naik said that Congress in Goa was trying to send wrong message by demanding the rehabilitation of illegal hutment dwellers at Baina. “If we entertain such demands for rehabilitation, then everybody will come to Goa, encroach and erect illegal structures with a wish to get rehabilitated. Such a trend should stop here,” Naik said.
The spokesman welcomed the tough stand taken by Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Mormugao MLA Milind Naik against illegal hutments and blamed the previous Congress government for allowing the structures to come up.
Naik sought to know the rationale of the Congress leaders for demanding rehabilitation the people whose hutments were demolished for violating CRZ norms and obstructing developmental projects like national highways.
“There are many Goans who are homeless and living in small congested houses. Should they go and build illegal structures and should we rehabilitate them after demolishing those structures? Vote bank and cheap politics should be stopped,” the BJP spokesperson said.
Naik sought to know whether the Karnataka government has rehabilitated the 200 fishermen who were evicted from Karwar, recently; and hundreds of others displaced due to the Sea Bird project. Therefore, he warned the Karnataka minister to mind the affairs of his State first.
We have rehabilitated the occupants of all 80-85 hutments which were demolished on April 15, Naik informed.
The remaining houses at Baina’s coast are illegal and in violation of CRZ norms. The matter court will decide the matter on Monday, Naik said.
Naik claimed that some of the people whose hutments were demolished have already purchased houses and some of them have even given the premises on lease.
