Team Herald
MARGAO: With more names with BJP links coming up in the cash-for-jobs scam, the Opposition parties on Tuesday upped the ante and dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding an independent inquiry under a retired high court judge. The letter was signed by six Opposition MLAs.
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The Congress has also announced an agitation at Azad Maidan in Panjim on November 21, urging all Goans to raise their voice demanding accountability from the government. Earlier, the party had given the state government time till Monday to announce a judicial inquiry on its own accord, which did not materialise.
Posting on X, Goa Congress president Amit Patkar wrote, “The most corrupt@BJP4Goa Govt led by @goacm @DrPramodPSawant has shamelessly failed to appoint a Judicial Committee for a fair investigation into the massive #CashforJobScam, betraying the trust of Goa’s youth.”
Patkar further wrote, “This is an attack on their future! We are compelled to raise our voice against this injustice on November 21st at Azad Maidan, Panjim at 11 am. I urge all Goans and the youth to join in large numbers to protect the interests of our future and demand accountability.”
In the letter, the opposition pointed out that former Governor Satyapal Malik had directly accused Sulakshana Sawant, wife of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, of taking money to give jobs.
Calling the Goa Police a “caged parrot” of the ruling dispensation, the letter expressed surprise at how the police top brass had declared at a press conference last week that no politican was involved in the scam. The scam of this magnitude could not have happened without the “active connivance” and involvement of those in the government, including ministers, the MLAs wrote in the letter.
The opposition MLAs pointed out that Monserrate has openly supported the demand of the Opposition for an inquiry by a One-Man Commission while, Agriculture Minister Ravi Naik has stated that godfather and godmother would soon be nabbed. Former BJP Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has also stated that such corruption could not have happened without political connection.
After the meeting, Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao said, “The way Goa Police are investigating and giving certificates of ‘clean chit’ to BJP Ministers is shocking and we know that ‘big fishes’ involved in it will not be caught by damaged fishnets of police, who have become spokespersons of BJP.”
He added that deserving candidates were not getting government jobs. “If undeserving candidates get government jobs by paying bribes to BJP’s agents, how will departments function? In the future they will take bribes from people to recover their money spent to get a job. So the corruption cycle will continue,” Yuri alleged.
