Govt in hurry to approve ODPs for generating poll fund: Cong

NT NETWORK
PANAJI
The Goa Pradesh Congress Party (GPCC) on Tuesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government is in a hurry to approve the outline development plans (ODPs) in order to generate their election fund for 2017.
GPCC president Luizinho Faleiro alleged that the outline development plans (ODPs) have become a vehicle of corruption and harassment.
He said “The BJP government in Goa in order to compensate the drought in the ATMs is opening the ODPs to collect the resources. The ODPs have become the vehicles of corruption, vehicles of destruction and vehicles of harassment for the people. It is the systematic planning to concretise Goa and to fund 2017 elections.”
Faleiro addressed the media in the capital, Panaji along with former chief minister and Margao MLA Digambar Kamat and former health minister and Valpoi MLA Vishwajeet Rane.
Alleging that the chairman of the SGPDA is involved in rampant corruption and passing favours in return for money, Kamat said “In Margao, the chairman (Mauvin Godinho), committee members Savio Correia, Dilip Dhobe and member secretary Ashok Kumar who is the town planner. In fact Kumar was pressurised so much that he had to be admitted to the hospital for two days.”
Stating that the changing of zones is directly linked to kickbacks being received on the eve of the Assembly polls slated for 2017, Kamat said that as per the Regional Plan 2021, which still stands notified, an entire block can be changed into settlement area but only selective zones are being changed from the locality. “Piecemeal conversion always indicates that there is something (wrong)”, he stated.
He further said “Irrespective of the city, the hurry in getting the ODPs approved makes it smell of corruption. Whether it is Margao, Ponda, Panaji, Vasco or Mapusa, I have told the Deputy Chief Minister (Francis D’Souza) they are blatantly violating the town and country planning rules.”
Meanwhile, when asked about the Congress MLAs quitting the party and joining the BJP, Faleiro said “Today I thank them for cleansing the Congress party. I’m happy that they have taken our garbage to enrich themselves and I’m that it is a party with a difference. Only thing it has taken them five years to appreciate the great qualities and to appropriate them into the sanctum sanctorum of the BJP.”
Further questioning the hue and cry of allegations against the Congress leaders, Faleiro recollected “It is the same BJP leaders who were shouting from the roof tops that certain Congress leaders are corrupt. The social media is abuzz with the speeches of the then leader of opposition (Manohar Parrikar) saying that Congress leaders are corrupt. These are same leaders of the BJP who filed cases in the High Court and the Supreme Court.”