MARGAO
The opposition on Tuesday intensified its stance on the cash-for-jobs scam, with seven MLAs from Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Revolutionary Goans Party, and Goa Forward Party deciding to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging his intervention in the matter.
The opposition has claimed the scandal has deprived deserving candidates of government jobs and criticised the police investigation, labelling it as biased for clearing BJP Ministers involved in the scandal.
“We know that the ‘big fishes’ are involved and they will not be caught by the damaged fishnets of the police. The police have become spokespersons for BJP,” Opposition MLAs said during a meeting in a Margao hotel on Monday.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao stated that the MLAs have decided to request a probe from the Prime Minister, especially since the police had arrested a staff member of a BJP Minister. “There may be several such agents employed by ministers to make money by selling jobs. This needs to be investigated, and hence, we have decided to write to the Prime Minister,” Yuri said.
He added that deserving candidates are being denied government jobs because agents are manipulating the process by accepting bribes. “The police have caught the small fishes, but the big fishes are trying to weaken these complaints. This scandal should be handed over to the SIT or probed by a retired High Court judge,” Yuri demanded.
The Opposition further accused the BJP government of using police officials to sabotage the investigation, with police allegedly issuing clean chits to politicians in power.
“How can the police jump to conclusions when cases are still being filed? Is the investigation complete? Have they checked the viral audios of MLAs and agents? How can they give clean chits when no charges have been filed?” Alemao questioned.
GFP Chief Vijai Sardesai compared the scam to the 2013 Madhya Pradesh scandal, which had led to public protests. AAP Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas called for public protests, saying people are afraid to come forward due to potential harassment.
