Team Herald
MARGAO: The BJP South Goa unit has stated that the DefExpo is essential to boost the South Goa tourism industry. It has also accused the Congress and Quepem MLA Chandrakant Kavalekar of being scared that a major project is coming in the constituency as he failed to bring such big projects.
Addressing the media on Monday, BJP State general secretary Damu Naik vice president Prakash Velip and South Goa president Sarvanand Bhagat accused GPCC president Luizinho Faleiro, Kavalekar and other politicians of politicising the issue for their own vested interests.
Damu questioned the motive and credibility of NGOs, who he felt were constantly turning up only to oppose development. Prakash said it was shameful that a project of the Defence Ministry, which was supposed to bring pride to the State, was being opposed. He called such opposition narrow-minded.
Damu pointed out how after the mining ban, there was a need to find ways to revive the economy, and since tourism was a big part of the economy, this project would bring in so much income for hotels, taxis and would also create work for the locals and others as there would be a requirement for logistics support. Damu added that this was not an aero show, but a DefExpo and that the event would get over in a few days.
Prakash questioned what Kavalekar had done for Quepem and why he had failed to bring in a major project. He pointed out that there was a similar agitation from Quepem against the Konkan Railway, which had now connected Goa to the rest of India.
Reacting to recent criticism by the Congress, Damu asked the Congress MPs to produce a white paper on the number of projects and amount of funds they had brought to Goa. He added that the development ushered in by the State BJP government in its two tenures had surpassed the works initiated during the combined tenure of past Congress governments.
