PANAJI
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has distanced itself from the issue surrounding lack of clarity over the visit of Pope Francis to Goa-India.
The Chief Minister Pramod Sawant through an official communication almost two months back had requested the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to invite the Vatican leader to India stating Goa would like to host the Pope for the upcoming Exposition of St Francis Xavier, scheduled from November.
When contacted, BJP State President and MP Sadanand Tanavade refused to speak on the issue stating that he has no authority to deal with the subject.
“How can I react to this ... .even though I am MP…it has nothing to me…You better speak to the Chief Minister or Minister concerned at the Centre…I cannot comment on this issue…The invite was sent by the Goa CM,” he reacted.
However, despite repeated attempts, the Chief Minister remained unavailable for the comments.
As reported by The Goan, State or CMO has not received any communication from the Centre so far with regards to Pope’s visit. The Union Ministry for External Affairs (MEA) is learnt to have not sent an official invite to the Vatican so far.
The last Pope to visit India was Pope John Paul II who visited the country in 1999 while Pope John Paul II had visited Goa in 1986.
Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao has slammed the Central and State government for failing to invite Pope for the Exposition. He pointed out that he had written a letter to the Chief Minister in 2023 requesting him to invite the Pope.
Alemao, who is also the member of the High Powered Committee to oversee preparation for the Exposition, said that the committee needed to meet urgently to discuss the issue.
“CM should immediately clarify what went wrong and why Pope is not coming,” he said. He said that it is very shocking to see the double engine sarkars double standard.
