Says objections raised at party’s closed-door meeting
PANAJI
A late-night closed-door meeting on Tuesday between BJP national general secretary B L Santosh, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, senior ministers and party workers has triggered fresh political controversy. Sources said objections were raised to recruitment through the Goa Staff Selection Commission (SSC).
The BJP Goa unit has not commented so far. However, sources said an MLA from the coastal belt flagged the issue during the meeting at the party office in Panaji.
The Opposition has claimed that resistance to SSC recruitment shows the ruling party wants to protect non-transparent hiring. GPCC president Amit Patkar, quoting media reports, said BJP ministers and MLAs opposed SSC recruitment in the presence of Santosh, saying merit-based hiring would upset party workers.
“Reports show a shocking reality. BJP leaders have opposed SSC recruitment, saying fair hiring will not please their own workers,” Patkar said in a statement.
He alleged that the opposition to the SSC is political, not administrative.
“This is about protecting a cash-for-jobs system that grew under BJP rule. SSC recruitment brings transparency and stops backdoor entries, favouritism and bribery,” he said.
Patkar also asked Santosh to clarify whether the reports are true.
The row follows reports from October last year that the BJP high command had considered scrapping the GSSC and returning to department-level recruitment. The commission was then informally asked not to issue new advertisements.
Sources said the Act allows the government to exempt certain cases from the SSC. They also said the BJP leadership had stepped in after differences between Sawant and minister Vishwajit Rane over job creation became public.
