PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday steered clear of the 'Monserrate v/s Parrikar' spat over the smart city projects in Panaji. When journalists asked for his comments on the issue, which has stirred some level of discomfiture among the ruling party 'karyakartas', the Chief Minister stayed mum and refused to make any comment although he said that all contractors engaged in 'smart city' work have been directed to speed up operations and complete by May 31.
“Follow up will be done on a day-to-day basis," Sawant added.
Earlier on Wednesday, Monserrate who represents Panaji, tore into the disparaging comments made about him by former chief minister Manohar Parrikar's son Utpal even throwing a challenge at Parrikar Jr to face him at the 2027 polls.
In his scathing remarks, Monserrate even masked his comments to the media with an indirect critique of the former chief minister who represented Panaji for over two decades before he came on to the scene even as he suggested that the very same 'consultants' of the IFFI and INOX projects were made part of the planning process for the 'smart city' projects.
The involvement of consultants has led to corruption, Monserrate had said, attributing to it the current mess in the capital city.
But even as Sawant steered clear of the controversy, BJP 'karyatakas' waded into it using social media platforms.
Long time aide of the former chief minister Giriraj Pai Vernekar was the most prominent BJP functionary to engage with the controversy. He took to micro-blogging site 'X' (formerly Twitter) to shower praise on the late leader and his contribution in shaping 'modern Goa'.
In a lengthy post, Pai Vernekar said: "Parrikarji was the true architect of modern Goa, and he significantly transformed Panaji during his tenure of over two decades as the MLA of Panaji. His initiatives included widening roads, setting up facilities like Inox, and undertaking major projects such as underground cabling."
Several other known supporters of the former chief minister also joined in with comments on Pai Vernekar's wall including prominent Panaji physician Dr Rufino Monteiro.
