MAPUSA
A truncated seven-member opposition group taking on a fat 33-member treasury bench was like the famous Biblical story of David and the Goliath, with the opposition giving the ruling benches a run for their money.
From the splurge on event management to the PWD recruitment scam and irregularities in the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) plot allocation, the opposition kept the government on its toes during the Question Hour in the recently concluded four-day Winter Session of the Goa Legislative Assembly.
Out of the seven, two MLAs “ Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao and Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai “ stood out both in lung power and material in exposing the irregularities in government functioning. And among the two, the GFP chief easily takes the cake.
The Opposition led by Vijai Sardesai held the government by the scruff of its neck over financial profligate, to organise various government functions through event management agencies. Attacking the government for wasting public money, the Fatorda MLA also slammed the government for taking post facto approval of crores of rupees spent on various events.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao fox-trotted into the debate alleging a scam of crores of rupees and demanded the setting up of the House Committee to unravel the truth but the arrogant government simply refused to pay heed to the demands.
The astute Congress MLA, Carlos Ferreira had posed the LAQ on the monies spent on various government events in the last three years. While the government in its reply showed a total of around Rs 29.27 crore as expenses, the Aldona MLA through RTI found that a whopping Rs 41.68 crore was spent on various agencies “ Sunlight Media Rs 6.15 crore, Vinayak Decorator Rs 13.77 crore, Sean AdEvent Rs 14.74 crore and Mirchi Republic Media Production Rs 7.02 crore “ to organise the events.
The showdown over the PWD recruitment scam was even shriller with both Sardesai and Alemao asking the government why it was shying away from declaring it as a scam when two ministers in the present cabinet had earlier also smelled irregularities in the recruitment process, one of whom had even demanded a CBI probe into the matter.
Labelling it a “cash for job scam”, Sardesai alleged it was a Rs 70 crore recruitment scam and the government was trying to sweep the case under the carpet apparently to protect a former colleague.
The GFP chief once again proved his worth when he exposed irregularities in the IDC plot allocation. Flashing documents obtained through RTI, Sardesai indicated how favouritism in allotment and transfer of plots in the IDC was causing revenue loss to the exchequer. He also slammed the government for ignoring comments made by a qualified company secretary who actually should have had a final say in such cases.
Sardesai also referred to a former IDC chairman who allegedly transferred a plot to his OSD. He did not name the chairman but did not forget to name the OSD making his target very obvious.
Congress MLA Yuri Alemao also raised the issue of power-guzzling steel companies and how they were manipulating production to escape paying the GST to the government.
Almost the entire opposition joined hands to slam the government for not giving Konkani its due after it was revealed that the government websites did not have an option for the official language. CM Pramod Sawant was forced to assure that efforts will be made to set up bilingual websites.
If the opposition managed to make it hot for the ruling benches, the toast of the Question Hour was easily the GFP supremo, Vijai Sardesai. From “bhauji” to “event managed sarkar”, Sardesai kept taunting the ruling benches with his name-calling.
The GFP chief’s study and in-depth knowledge of issues show his commitment and it also puts the government of the day on guard. Sardesai is convincing in his arguments and will continue to be a pinprick to the ruling dispensation.
Yuri Alemao came a close second in raising issues and putting the government on the mat.
While the lone Revolutionary Goans Party MLA, Viresh Borkar was more sound and fury, the two Aam Aadmi Party MLAs “ Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva “ appeared feeble probably because they did not get an opportunity to speak due to the short duration of the Assembly session.
