the goan I network
PANAJI
Under fire and targeted by the Opposition over the Mhadei issue, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday got a morale booster from an unlikely quarter - colleagues in his 12-member cabinet who backed him to the hilt to protect Goa’s interests against Karnataka.
Sawant, who has been attacked by the opposition politicians and activists for prolonging the imposition of Section 144 CrPC in the wake of the Ayodhya verdict, said the prohibitory law will be lifted immediately after the 50th edition of the IFFI ends on Thursday.
“Section 144 was imposed ahead of the Ayodhya verdict in Goa. It will be lifted as soon as the International Film Festival of India is over,” Sawant told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The prohibitory section was clamped down on November 7, two days before the Supreme Court pronounced its Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title case verdict.
Earlier at the opening of the IFFI on November 20, Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, who also holds the Environment and Forests portfolio, was heckled by Congress and other activists who accused him of favouring Karnataka in the ongoing inter-state water dispute for political reasons with by-polls due there.
The Opposition has also threatened to disrupt the event if Sawant shares dais with Javadekar at the closing ceremony on Thursday.
