MARGAO
With the possibility of resumption of mining before the ensuing Lok Sabha poll now remote, the BJP leadership seems to have taken a strategic stand that the party is not to be blamed for closure of the activity in the State.
In fact, BJP veteran and Union Minister Shripad Naik on Thursday exuded confidence that the mining dependents will not move away from the BJP in the ensuing Lok Sabha poll, saying the people of Goa in general and the mining dependents in particular are aware of the people responsible for the present situation.
“The mining dependents are well aware who had gone to the court to stop mining. People have not forgotten who had withdrawn the environmental clearances and how the Shah Commission probe into the mining issue was set up,” Shripad said, while speaking to the media on the sidelines of the launching of works at the Margao railway station on Thursday.
He, however, said the BJP governments at the centre and Goa have made all-out efforts to resume mining in the State. “We have taken up the issue at the highest level. Our attempt has been to resolve the issue through legal means since the activity was stopped by an order of the Supreme Court,” he said.
When asked whether there’s any possibility of the mining issue being resolved before the election code of conduct, Shripad said he cannot say anything, but he was only praying to God for an early solution to the issue.
“There are positive signals emanating from the Centre on the mining issue. But, the exact time cannot be given, whether it will come before the code of conduct,” he said, warning that a solution is being worked out by taking all legal parameters into account.
When asked whether the BJP will face the brunt of the mining dependents in the Lok Sabha election, the Union Minister exuded confidence that the party leadership will succeed in convincing the mining dependents
that the party is not to be blamed for the situation. On the contrary, he said the BJP leadership in Goa and at the Centre deliberated on the issue at the highest level to get the ban lifted.
“We are confident that the mining dependents will not fall prey to false propaganda. There may be the unions which will try to sway the mining dependents, but I am confident the latter will stand by the party,” he said, adding that resource constraint has come in the way of working out a fresh financial package for the mining dependents.
