PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday refused to respond to accusations of rampant corruption in his regime by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday, dismissing the latter’s comments and presence in Goa as that of a visiting tourist.
Speaking to reporters outside the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Panaji, Sawant instead mocked the oath-taking exercise by Congress candidates in Gandhi’s presence, saying by making its own candidates take a public pledge the Congress has shown that the party does not trust its own leaders.
“Do not go into Rahul Gandhi’s allegations. He will come here as a tourist and make allegations. Do not go by his accusations. I do not know what he was doing if he cannot see any development in the state,” Sawant told reporters.
“No one takes him seriously. There is no worry,” he added.
Gandhi, who was in Goa on Friday, had accused the Chief Minister of running an administration marked by scams and corruption, while urging the people of Goa to vote for the Congress party instead.
Sawant also mocked the Congress and Rahul Gandhi for making the party’s candidates for the February 14 assembly polls to take a public oath of allegiance to the party and take a pledge against defection, if they are elected to the state assembly.
“They have to be told again and again that they are loyal to the Congress. The Congress itself does not trust its leaders. Even Rahul Gandhi does not trust his leaders,” Sawant said.
The Chief Minister also pointed out that if the Congress and Gandhi do not trust their own leaders, how could they expect the voters of Goa to trust them?
“Once they did it (took a pledge) before God, before Allah, Church. Now they are doing it before Rahul ji. If their party has no trust in their candidate and whether they will run away (after elections), how will people trust them? Therefore I can say that people trust the BJP and its candidates,” Sawant said.
