Hours after the two deaths outside the EDM festival venue, the opposition Congress took a dig at the BJP government over its claim that drugs at the festival will not be allowed. Aam Aadmi Party, on the other hand, demanded that the festival be stopped.
Congress claimed that the narcotics trade in Goa is flourishing. “The two deaths of tourists at the Sunburn (Klassique) site at Vagator due to suspected overdose of narcotic drugs has completely demolished the theory of the BJP government led by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant that there is no drug trade in Goa. Today’s unfortunate incident has vindicated the stand of the Congress that it is flourishing with the blessing of Ministers, MLAs and office bearers of the party with a difference,” Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar said in a statement.
Suspecting political interference in the case, the party has asked the police not to succumb to the pressure of the ‘high and mighty in the BJP and try to alter and manipulate the facts regarding the cause of the death of the two tourists’. “Any attempt to do so will cost the concerned officers heavily,” Congress warned.
Chodankar further said that Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar had gone overboard to defend the festival and slammed Ports Minister Michael Lobo for supporting the festival.
In a separate statement, AAP convenor Elvis Gomes said the judiciary should step in and stop the festival if the government fails to stop it, and order a thorough investigation.
“Those who make money from Sunburn (Klassique) are no different from supari killers. Innocent tourists are killed through State sanction of ‘sunburn’. High Court must go hard on it as it was also drawn into getting permissions cleared,” he said.
