MAPUSA
Urban Development Minister, Vishwajit Rane has re-constituted the general body of the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) but his decision to include former Mapusa chairperson Michael Carrasco, who is a member of Trinamool Congress (TMC), as one of its members has not gone down well with staunch BJP karyakartas in Mapusa.
Rane is the de facto chairman of GSUDA which has senior government officials as members besides several current and former councillors appointed as members.
The GSUDA panel has maximum (four) representatives of Valpoi, three from Mapusa, two from Vasco and one from Bicholim.
From Mapusa -- former chairpersons Ashish Shirodkar and Michael Carrasco and ex-councillor Vinod Phadke -- have been appointed as members of the agency.
Carrasco had joined the TMC weeks before the recent 2022 assembly election and actively campaigned with the party candidate Tarak Arolkar in Mapusa.
Arolkar informed that Michael Carrasco has not resigned and was very much a member of TMC.
He further stated that the former chairperson moved around with him during the campaigning in Mapusa but silently backed the BJP candidate. “He has been rewarded for helping Joshua (D’Souza) in the election,” said Arolkar, who is a councillor of Mapusa Municipal Council.
Loyal BJP karyakartas from Mapusa who are very upset have opposed the move and have petitioned to senior party leadership against the decision to include Carrasco in the GSUDA.
“This is a direct insult to the BJP karyakartas who worked sincerely for the party candidate in Mapusa. How can a member of TMC find a place in a government panel? We have taken up this issue with top leaders of the party,” a senior BJP karyakarta said.
Sources informed that the matter has been taken up with the State BJP President Sadanand Tanavade who has assured to look into the issue.
