TEAM HERALD
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MARGAO: Goa Vikas Party supremo Mickky Pacheco on Monday fired a salvo at Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, questioning the inordinate delay in bringing the culprits involved in the illegal mining loot to book, even as he demanded that the government immediately de-notify the land acquired for the proposed airport at Mopa.
“Somewhere, something has gone wrong on the recovery of the mining loot. Somewhere down the line, people have begun to believe there’s fixing somewhere to protect those involved in the loot,” Mickky said.
Saying that it was Parrikar as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during his stint as Opposition leader that had made the startling revelation of illegal mining, Mickky demanded to know the fate of the PAC findings as well as the revelation made in the Shah Commission report. “Manohar Parrikar is today the Chief Minister of Goa. It is his bounden duty to bring the culprits in the illegal mining loot to book and recover the huge loss,” he demanded, while saying that the common man in Goa is suffering today because of the closure of the mining industry and its resultant impact on the Goan economy.
On Mopa airport issue, Mickky said that Chief Minister’s statement that he would petition to the Prime Minister to shift the Navy to Mopa indicates that Parrikar has now realised that Dabolim needs to be protected as Goa’s civilian airport. “If the previous government could get the land for parking at Dabolim de-notified, the Parrikar government can take a Cabinet decision and de-notify the land acquired for Mopa,” he asserted.
Asked whether the appointment of Narendra Modi as BJP’s campaign committee chief will help the BJP come back to power at the Centre, Mickky said, “Modi on Sunday had said that he has the blessings of LK Advani. People have lost faith in Modi within 24 hours with Advani’s decision to quit from all posts he held in the BJP.”
