Seeks inquiry by SC Judge into corrupt practices; Wants cases filed by Central agencies against govt
Team Herald
PANJIM/NEW DELHI: The opposition Congress on Tuesday demanded the immediate dismissal of Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant and the entire council of Ministers for their direct and indirect involvement in corruption, as alleged by former Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik and to constitute a time-bound investigation by a sitting Supreme Court Judge into all corrupt practices.
Addressing the media, All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesman Prof Gaurav Vallabh demanded that the ED, CBI, SFIO and other Central agencies be directed to file a case against Sawant and all involved in the alleged corruption.
Vallabh demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should answer why no action was initiated against Sawant when the then Governor had informed him about the rampant corruption by the Goa government. “Was this a “Khoob Khaunga Aur Khoob Khane Doonga model?” he asked.
He charged that the double engine for the Prime Minister and Goa government was double engine of corruption and the mantra of both the governments was ‘Khoob Khaunga Aur Khoob Khane Doonga’.
Alleging corruption in everything that the Goa government was handing during COVID-19 pandemic, Vallabh said allowing mining trucks to operate during the lockdown turned out to be a super spreader of coronavirus in the State. “Till date, 1,77,915 people got infected by coronavirus and 3358 people died in Goa. Is these corrupt decisions and illegal help to mining mafia is the reason for this abnormal number?” he demanded to know.
The AICC spokesman pointed out that during the TV interview, Malik made a shocking revelation that on the day when lockdown was announced, the Goa government did not allow stores selling basic essentials to open but allowed one company to sell basic essentials door-to- door, which had given money to Goa government, when people from Congress told Malik about it, he informed PM Modiji but instead of removing a corrupt BJP government, he had Malik transferred. ‘Is a government involved in corrupt practices in the middle of a pandemic what opportunity in crisis means?” Vallabh asked.
According to Vallabh, when Malik had informed the Prime Minister about the corruption in Jammu and Kashmir, he was transferred from J&K to Goa; when he informed about the corruption in Goa, he was transferred from Goa to Meghalaya. “Is this the proper and correct meaning of double engine government is double engine of corruption?” he asked.
Congress media department chairman Amarnath Panjikar, senior spokesman and panelist Trajan D’Mello and spokesman Mahadev Khandekar were also present.
The Congress in New Delhi also questioned the Modi government’s protection to corruption by shunting out Malik, first from Jammu and Kashmir to Goa in October 2019 and then from Goa to Meghalaya in August 2020 when he informed the Prime Minister on ‘corruption in everything the BJP government in Goa was handling’.
Malik, an appointee of the Modi government, has gone on record in a TV interview that no action was initiated on his complaint of corruption by the Goa government and instead he was transferred to Meghalaya, showing how the corruption is flourishing in the BJP-ruled States under the patronage of Prime Minister Modi, said chief spokesman and AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, and Dinesh Gundu Rao, the AICC in-charge of Goa.
In a statement they said correct meaning of Modi’s stress last Saturday on Goa having a ‘double engine government’ is ‘double engine of corruption’. They demanded a time-bound probe under the supervision of a sitting judge of the Supreme Court into the corruption by the Goa government as alleged no less but a former Governor of Goa and an immediate dismissal of Goa CM Dr Pramod Sawant and his ministry for being directly and indirectly involved in massive corruption and that too in the middle of pandemic.
They said Malik is even to date holding the governorship of Meghalaya and so the charges levelled by him on the BJP and its government should not be pushed under the carpet. They said corruption during the corona pandemic in the selling of basic essentials is true example of ‘opportunity in crisis’ (Aapda mein Awasar).
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12 Congress members detained
Panjim Police on Tuesday detained 12 Congress members after they attempted to march to the Chief Minister’s official residence at Altinho to demand his resignation. The Congress workers staged a protest at Azad Maidan, Panjim demanding Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s resignation following allegations made by former Governor Satya Pal Malik. The police closed the gates of Azad Maidan but the protestors tried to march towards Altinho by emerging from another gate where the police stopped them.
The protestors and the police jostled and 12 Congress members, including Youth Congress president Varad Mardolkar, were detained and taken to Porvorim Police Station. Late night, the protestors were released by the Panjim Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM).
Condemning the arrest, Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat said this will not deter their determination to expose the corrupt Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. “If this high-handedness continues, jails will fall short for the government. Congress party stands for Goa and will continue to be the voice of the people,” Kamat said.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar in a tweet alleged that the BJP government and the Chief Minister, after getting exposed from a Constitutional authority, are using the police force to suppress the voice of Congress party functionaries. He demanded the immediate resignation of the Chief Minister before entire Goa comes on road against the mass corruption.
