CANACONA
The ongoing bitter feud between Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude and Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar over various events funded by the Art and Culture Department in Canacona took yet another turn when the 5th Kala Utsav (Art Festival) 2024 scheduled at Indrawada-Gaondongrim on Sunday at 4 pm was cancelled on Saturday evening.
The 5th Kala Utsav, organised by the Indreshwar Youth Club of Indrawada-Gaondongrim in association with the Art and Culture Department, was to have been inaugurated by Gaude.
Director of Art and Culture Sagun Velip was to have been the guest of honour, while the special invitees included ZP (Poinguinim) Shobana Velip, Gaondongrim Sarpanch Dhillan (Yeshwant) Dessai, Ward panch Anand Velip and folk artiste Ajit Painguinkar.
Work on a central stage with a view on all four sides was to have started on Saturday itself and was to have been completed before the event began at 4 pm on Sunday.
However, the official invitation had not made any mention of Tawadkar, who is the MLA of Canacona.
It is reliably learnt that a livid Tawadkar is reported to have got in touch with the Indrawada Club committee and demanded an explanation for excluding his name from the invitation card.
Sources said Tawadkar reportedly castigated the members and told them to cancel the event. He is also alleged to have reprimanded the director of Art and Culture for co-hosting an event in his constituency without involving him.
On Saturday evening, the Indrawada Club committee members circulated a message on social media stating that the event had been cancelled at Indrawada-Gaondongrim.
When contacted, a member from the Indrawada Club confirmed that Tawadkar had contacted them and was upset that his name was not included in the invitation card.
The cancellation of the 5th Kala Utsav will be seen as a big blow to cultural performances, as folk dance troupes from different parts of Goa and Maharashtra had been invited to the event, to showcase Fugdi, Jagor, Dhalo, Ghodemodni, Diwali Nach, Musal folk dance and other traditional folk dances.
Incidentally, the Speaker’s fury and his subsequent interaction with the Art and Culture director bears similarity to Gaude’s angry outburst with the Director of Tribal Welfare Dashrath Redkar, when an unedited audio clip of their telephonic conversation had gone viral on social media on Tuesday.
In the audio clip, the Minister was heard lashing out at Redkar for granting funds to an NGO for organising events through Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribe Commission in his Priol constituency.
In the clip, Gaude was heard abusing and threatening the officer with dire consequences, if he and the chairman of the SC and ST Commission decided to go ahead with the scheduled event.
While some claimed it is an old audio clip, the minister even had disparaging words for the Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in the audio clip.
