PANAJI
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Goa president Valmiki Naik on Sunday led a team of party volunteers in removing coverings placed over casino hoardings near the Merces bypass, alleging that the BJP was trying to hide Goa’s casino culture during Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit.
Naik was accompanied by AAP vice-president Manuel Cardozo and OBC Wing president Sandeep Pednekar.
The party questioned why casino advertisements, which remain visible to Goans throughout the year, were suddenly covered when senior BJP leaders and VVIPs visited the State.
“Why are these advertisements hidden from Amit Shah but not from ordinary Goans and their children?” Naik asked. He accused the BJP of hypocrisy, alleging that the party had turned Goa into a “casino capital” while trying to hide that image from visiting national leaders.
According to AAP, the coverings were put up along key routes around Panaji ahead of Shah’s programme.
AAP leaders and volunteers tore off the sheets to reveal the advertisements underneath, describing the action as a symbolic protest against what they called the BJP’s “double-faced agenda” on casinos.
Naik alleged that the BJP had no problem allowing casino advertising across the State but became uncomfortable displaying it during visits by its senior leaders. He questioned the reasons for the exercise and said the public deserved an explanation.
Cardozo said casinos were contributing to an atmosphere of vice and crime and harming Goa’s image as a tourism destination. Pednekar criticised the widespread display of casino branding on public infrastructure.
He claimed that police barricades and other installations across Goa were covered with casino logos, creating the impression that the industry was sponsoring government departments.
AAP said its action had exposed what it called the BJP’s contradictory stand on casinos. The party said it would continue to challenge similar attempts to conceal the growing presence and influence of the casino industry in the State.
The protest comes amid an ongoing political debate over casinos and their impact on Goa’s social fabric, economy and tourism image. It also comes in the aftermath of a recent shooting incident at Porvorim, allegedly targeting Shrinivas Nayak, director of the Majestic group, which operates casinos.
