Believe it or not but the infighting between the political leaders to grab the chair is the root cause behind the whole delay in non-appointment of the Authority (Chairman and members) at the Mormugao Planning and Development Authority (MPDA) which is operating without a chairman for tha past 10 months.
It may be recalled that in the month of January this year the then MPDA Chairman and incumbent Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida tendered his resignation to contest the 2017 assembly polls in February and since then there is no authority formed for MPDA, pushing the investors on the brink of crises. Multi dwelling projects, worth over Rs 500 cr, are kept in cold storage and there is no clarity whether the same would be appointed soon or not.
Herald investigation revealed that not only the BJP MLAs from Mormugao Taluka, but also several other political leaders, including the few who unsuccessfully contested the 2017 assembly against BJP’s candidate from Vasco assembly seat are also vying to grab the plum MPDA Chairman’s post. With so many aspirants in fray, MPDA chairman’s post has actually become an ego issue between the BJP MLAs from Mormugao Taluka and a serious competition between the other political leaders who are even ready to join Goa Forward Party only to get this coveted post.
“Cracks have begun to show between the BJP MLAs from Mormugao Taluka because of the MPDA Chairman’s post with literary a cold war going on between Mormugao MLA Milind Naik and Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida”, a senior BJP leader told Herald. He also claimed that though Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida was the front runner to fill up the vacant post of MPDA Chairman, he faced a roadblock after Mormugao MLA Milind Naik threw his hat in the ring and the race for PDA chairman post became more complicated and a headache for BJP.
Trying to justify his stand on the issue, Mormugao MLA Milind Naik claimed that though he is not demanding the post but supporting it since BJP workers from Mormugao Constituency have been demanding it for any BJP worker from Mormugao constituency.
“I don’t know why the government has been delaying the appointment of MPDA Chairman but currently the party workers from Mormugao constituency have been demanding representation in the MPDA,” said Milind.
On the other hand Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida acknowledged that he has staked a claim for the post considering the fact that PDA falls in his constituency and he has more right over the same.
Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha, however, claimed that she is not in the race for the MPDA Chairman’s post, but wants representation from her constituency in the committee.
