PANAJI
Amid the swelling tide of harsh communal commentary in Goa, BJP's national general secretary CT Ravi on Wednesday claimed that some faiths advocated no tolerance, while he also said that communal tension has been prevalent in India since the 7th century.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant however tried to sidetrack queries related to the issue, at a media conference earlier.
Ravi, who was in Goa to participate in a series of meetings with party officials, ministers and MLAs, was speaking to reporters when he was asked about the volley of sensitive commentary in Goa's socio-political space in recent times.
"Communal tension is nothing new. Is this the first time it is happening? It has started with the first attack on India from 7th century, not from today," Ravi, who is the party's Goa in-charge, told reporters in Panaji.
"Some people try to create communal tension. There are some intolerant faiths. They have no tolerance. They do this," he also said.
"BJP believes nation comes first. We have no other objective. Our objective is that the country should be strong, Goa should be strong," he also said.
When the same question was posed to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at the state BJP headquarters, Sawant said: "There has been no biased statement from our end anytime. The Goa government has been following the Uniform Civil Code. In the same vein Goa is a state known for its brotherhood. The government will work towards taking the same intent forward".
Speaking about organisational issues Ravi said that the Ministers and the government will have to make public their report card of performance every six months, even as State Bharatiya Janata Party president Sadanand Shet Tanavade said that MLAs and Ministers would have to attend a three-day training camp at the Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini institution in Mumbai soon.
Tanavade also said that all Ministers would have to submit a performance report to the Chief Minister and would have to be available at the party's state and district headquarters at least once every month.
During the meetings which were held earlier today, the BJP leadership worked out strategies for the upcoming panchayat polls to ensure victory for the party's candidates.
