TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Former Union minister and veteran Congressman Eduardo Faleiro has rubbished the just released BJP local manifesto saying the promises are deceitful and misleading voters since they are not part of the national manifesto.
Faleiro said that the grant of Special Status for the protection and conservation of land in Goa by amending Article 371 can only be given by a national manifesto and not by a local manifesto.
He elaborated, “In any case, such a constitutional amendment is not necessary at all. Under the XVII Schedule of the Constitution, every State Government has the required powers for protection and conservation of land within its jurisdiction,” adding that this is provided in the State List as well as in the Concurrent List of the VII Schedule of the Constitution.
Also Faleiro pointed out that without seeking any amendment of Article 371, Uttarakhand enacted its Land Reforms Act 2003 which restricts purchase of land by outsiders. The State of Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, prohibits non-agriculturists from purchasing any agricultural land in the State.
On the promise to solve the difficulties created by registration of birth of Goans in Portugal, Faleiro says that some time ago, he met the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ramachandran Mullappally, who is in charge of the Foreigners Division in the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi.
“I requested the Minister to hold a similar meeting cum interactive session in Goa and he agreed to do so. I then requested the State Government to make the necessary arrangements for this meeting. The State Government however failed to organize this meeting and thereby caused great harm to the cause of Goans who have registered their birth in Portugal,” Faleiro said.
He also argued that Narendra Modi presided over the worst communal riots that this country has ever witnessed. In 2002, the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpyee described as “barbaric and inhuman” the Godhra and post-Godhra events and wanted Modi removed from the Chief Ministership of Gujarat, but it was L K Advani, who is now sidelined by Modi, who protected him.
