PANAJI: All-India Congress committee general secretary and Goa desk in-charge Digvijay Singh on Saturday said the party was not against casinos, but wants casino vessels to move out of Mandovi river.
He also assured that the Congress would probe all the cases of illegal mining if the party comes to power in the state. Addressing the media after chairing the Goa pradesh Congress coordination committee at the Congress House in the capital, Singh said, “We are not against casinos. But as far as our stand is concerned, they will have to move out of Mandovi river. It has to be decided how far they will have to move away from the coast.”
He questioned BJP’s pre-poll allegations on rampant illegal mining made in the run-up to the 2012 assembly elections.
Taking a dig at former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, Singh recalled, “Parrikar had alleged Rs 35000-crore mining scam by the Congress regime. He had said ‘I will recover all that amount’. How much money has been recovered by the present government of Goa?”
Responding to a question on Congress stand on the mining scam, Singh said that if the Congress is voted to power in Goa all the cases of illegal mining would be probed and action taken against the guilty.
“The party wants sustainable mining in the state, which will provide employment to thousands of people,” he added.
Stating that Defence Minister Parrikar’s ‘hell’ reference to Pakistan reflects intolerance of BJP-RSS, Singh questioned as why Parrikar did not object to the visits to Pakistan by senior BJP leaders.
He said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended his counterpart Nawaz Sharif’s family function in Pakistan; L K Advani kept a floral wreath at mazaar of Mohammed Ali Jinnah and called him a secular leader. He (Parrikar) had no objection when former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee went to Lahore via bus. Why didn’t he agitate then?”
Singh also condemned Parrikar’s comment against Bollywood actor Aamir Khan stating “Parrikar’s behaviour shows the intolerance of the BJP-RSS.”
The AICC general secretary reiterated that the BJP was the biggest rival in the forthcoming assembly elections and the Aam Aadmi Party was working only to facilitate the victory of BJP.
“We have always maintained that Arvind Kejriwal is working with RSS for a Congress-mukt Bharat. I challenge him to accept or deny the fact – whether he was part of a discussion at Vivekananda International Foundation that drew up strategy for Narendra Modi’s victory in 2014 general election,” he stated.
Singh questioned Kejriwal’s contribution in checking corruption when the anti-corruption activist turned politician was serving as an Indian Revenue Service officer in Delhi.
“What was his record in checking tax evasion,” he asked.
Criticising the BJP’s student wing in Goa, he said BJP Yuva Morcha and Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad activists displayed goondaism at the Goa University during its students council elections on Friday.
He said the party will hold a morcha on Monday August 29 against the atrocities against the student leaders of the Congress.
