PANAJI
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday won her election to earn a Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka, crucial to retain her job in the Union cabinet.
Hours later, she arrived to inaugurate the Customs and GST museum in Goa.
But despite being a stone's throw away from the Casino heartland in Panaji where the museum is located, the JNU alumni was in no mood to party or let others party.
At least two bars and another liquor outlet were ordered to close for some hours up to 8 pm on Saturday by Goa Excise officials, admittedly because these are located in close proximity of the Customs museum and could possibly cause crowding and chaos, disturbing the function Sitharaman graced.
According to officials in the Chief Minister's Office, the two bars and the retail liquor outlet were asked to shut at the request of Customs officials to avoid disturbance of the inaugural function which Sitharaman was to grace.
The move, however, earned critical attention on social media and scathing Twitter criticism from Goa Forward Party MLA, Vijai Sardesai.
Sardesai termed the State government asking liquor shops to close on account of Sitharaman’s visit “laughable”.
"This is not only an arbitrary and authoritarian act but also a derogatory comment on the culture of Goa and the decency of Goemkars (Goans).” “Ministers will come and go. Why should bars and wine shops be asked to stay closed?” his tweets read.
However, just these three -- two bars and one retail outlet -- located close to the Customs Museum in Panaji were asked to close and not all alcohol vending establishments, an Excise official said.
