MARGAO
The controversy surrounding the demand to issue house numbers to the 166 illegal houses at Davorlim village on the outskirts of Margao has brought top BJP leaders face to face.
If former Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar took up cudgels for the occupants of the houses in support of their demand for house numbers, reports spoke of the TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane issuing directions to the Chief Town Planner to initiate action against the illegal houses.
In retaliation, the former DyCM Ajgaonkar has dared Vishwajit Rane to initiate action against the thousands of houses, which have been issued house numbers under the Amended Goa Panchayat Raj Act.
Expressing shock and surprise over the TCP Minister’s reported statement directing the Chief Town Planner to initiate action against the 166 illegal houses at Davorlim, Ajgaonkar said the TCP Minister seemed to have issued the directions due to misunderstanding over the matter.
A day after he went to the Davorlim panchayat to call on the Sarpanch Herculano Niasso in support of the 166 applicants demanding house number for the houses, Ajgaonkar on Wednesday said he was approached by the applicants during the Davorlim ZP by-polls when he was sent to the village by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, BJP President Sadanand Tanavade to canvass for votes in support of party candidate Paresh Naik. “I was told by the people that though the houses have been in existence for 20 years and have light and water, the panchayat has still not issued the House numbers. I assured them to do the needful since the BJP government has brought an amendment to issue house numbers to all structures,” he said.
He added: “I am surprised how Vishwajit Rane has made the statement to initiate action against the houses. Pratapsing Rane had workers for the Bahujan Samaj throughout his life. This is a big shock. But, if Vishwajit has directed the TCP to take action against the structures, he should take action against all structures, which have been issued house numbers for the purpose of house tax.”
“Let us see Vishwajit’s courage. My only plea to the TCP minister is not to come against the poor and the downtrodden. I had gone to the panchayat since it was not acting on the file. My contention is that if the panchayat is not acting, the Deputy Director of Panchayats can issue the directions to the Panchayat Secretary to issue the house numbers,” Ajgaonkar said.
