Team Herald
PANJIM: In a bid to show their support and unity with the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant against the charges of the Opposition against him, the entire State cabinet, except two, were present at the post cabinet presser to show their solidarity.
The ministers, who spoke in support of Sawant, said the Opposition have no issues and just want to stay in the news.
Dy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar said that people are jealous as the govt is working honestly for the people of Goa. “We have a CM who is working 18 hours a day. Some people are criticising (him) as they are getting a stomach ache due to government’s good work,” he said.
On the drugs issue raked up by Goa Forward, he said drugs business was always there in Goa and claimed that ‘what’s new, is that it’s now on the verge of being eradicated from Goa’.
“Drugs have been there for ages but since our CM began his tenure, he has given a free hand to the police for raids. For the first time drugs worth around Rs 3 crore were seized recently,” he said.
Ajgaonkar added the drugs were there even when the present-day critics were in power but claimed that ‘earlier there was fixing’.
“People are criticising but they forget the business was there even when they were in power,” he said.
He said that the govt is running so many schemes despite the State finances being under stress. “Critics should see their own history what they have done in the past before commenting on others,” he said.
Power Minister Nilesh Cabral said that people are criticising the CM and govt unnecessarily. “It was due to the CM’s blessings that we have been able to do many works like using the Calangute land for a sub-station. The CM has been a guiding force for all of us,” he said.
He said that those criticising the govt’s handling of the Mhadei issue have to see their own petition first.
“Goa Forward was bound to be thrown as it was so weak that it was insult for Govt of Goa,” he said.
Dy CM Chandrakant Kavlekar said that if there is some mistake, everybody has the right to bring it up with the CM. “However, there should not be any personal attack on anyone. The all-party-delegation on Mhadei was the CM’s idea and we can assure that there will not be any compromise on the issue. We need a bit of time. Simply criticising is not good,” he said.
He said that the opposition feels the CM is new and cannot handle the responsibility but emphasised that Sawant has been doing absolutely fine and thus people have become jealous.
Only health Minister Vishwajit Rane and Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate were not present for the conference.
