--------
ISSUES THAT DIDN'T
FIND 'ANY MENTION'
* Government’s stand on DefExpo and Aero Show
* Preference given to Gujarat co-operative over Goa Dairy
* Goa versus Karnataka over Mhadei imbroglio
* Declassification of coconut tree
* Failure in curbing political interference in police department
* Beach cleaning, state of public healthcare sector and other issues
-----
WAGH ROARS BACK
* Criticism of the address should be objective
* BJP is not intimidated by the prospect of elections
* Will work to reduce Congress' number from 8 to 6 or even 3
* BJP will go to the people with the agenda of development
---------------
PANAJI: The Opposition benches on Wednesday alleged that the Governor, by not reading out almost two-third of her address, left out all the contentious issues concerning the current government.
Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, who has proposed 13 amendments to the Governor’s speech, raised several issues, which he felt should have been mentioned in the address.
These include the government’s stand on DefExpo and Aero Show, preference given to Gujarat co-operative over Goa Dairy, Mhadei issue, declassification of coconut tree, failure of the government in curbing political interference in police department, beach cleaning, state of public healthcare sector and so on.
Sardesai urged the government to take the people and the House into confidence over the issue of allotting six lakh sq mtrs of land to the defence ministry for orgainising DefExpo in Betul-Naqueri.
“The government should talk about protecting the coconut palm first before declassifying it. Also, on whose recommendation was the decision made? Was any expert committee consulted?” Sardesai demanded to know.
He also cast a shadow of doubt on the assurance of the government to complete the construction of the new South Goa District Hospital by the end of this year.
Referring to January 16, the Opinion Poll Day, Sardesai informed the House that the Margao Municipal Council will be erecting a statue of Dr Jack Sequeira, the leading light of the Opinion Poll and requested the State government to install a statue of the great man in the Assembly complex to honour his work towards saving Goa’s identity and culture.
Interestingly, Sardesai applauded the stand taken by Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on the Mhadei issue calling it ‘commendable’. “Government will definitely lose out in case of an out-of-Court settlement and CM has taken the correct decision,” he said.
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat, who is at his aggressive best since the start of the session, raised similar pitch and raised the issues of the proposed Gujarat cooperative dairy, state of Hospicio Hospital and underground cabling.
He said that the regional plan will have to be denotified for changes to be incorporated in order to avoid legal hurdles later on.
St Andre MLA Vishnu Wagh responded to the amendments proposed by the Opposition by stating that the Governor is a constitutional authority. “Hence the criticism of the Address should be objective,” he said.
Wagh also said that unlike what the Congress was making it out to be, the BJP is not intimidated by the prospect of elections. “We are not scared of elections, the Congress is. We will concentrate on reducing their number from eight to six or even three the next time. The BJP will go to the people with the agenda of development,” Wagh roared.
