Panaji, April 1 (IANS) The Goa BJP is using Catholic legislators in the party as a "mask" to openly criticize the Church in Goa for hyping the secularism versus communalism debate ahead of general elections, the NCP Tuesday alleged.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) vice president Trajano D'Mello also told a press conference here that the drug mafia had shifted its allegiance to the present government, which was why a legislative committee report on drug trade in Goa was not being adopted by the BJP-led coalition government.
"Why are BJP's Hindu MLAs not coming forward to criticise the Goa Church for starting a debate on secularism and communalism? Why are only Christian MLAs being used as a mask by the BJP?" D'Mello said, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to start in-fighting within the minority community in Goa.
Goa Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza of the BJP and other Catholic legislators, who are either members of the saffron party or are part of the ruling coalition, have been openly criticising the Church as well as the Roman Catholic priests in Goa for the last one week.
While D'Souza blamed the Church for trying to create a secularism versus communalism divide, Benaulim legislator Caitu Silva accused Catholic priests of supporting the Congress.
"I want to know why the priests do not tell the people two months in advance to support the Congress. Why do they tell us to support the Congress only on the eve of election," Caitu told reporters Sunday.
The criticism of the Church and one of its social organisations by the ruling Catholic MLAs follows attempts by the former to kindle a secularism versus communalism debate ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, much to the displeasure of the BJP, which has insisted on development as the agenda for the general elections.
A circular and a voters' pledge issued by the Church and its satellite organisations was also obliquely critical of exclusionary and corrupt governance methods adopted by both BJP's prime ministerial hopeful Narendra Modi and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
The Goa Church is a significant player in Goa's socio-political space with its Catholic population pegged at nearly 27 percent.
D'Mello also said the delay by the BJP-led Goa government to act on a crucial legislative committee report on the police-politician drug mafia in Goa, could mean that the drug mafia had switched loyalties to the incumbent government. The report, which was tabled last year, has not been adopted by the government yet.
"When was the report tabled? Why is the government not adopting it? BJP MLAs themselves are on record in the assembly as saying that minor children are slowly being addicted to drugs. Does the government want to encourage this?" D'Mello said.
Incidentally, D'Mello's NCP is backing Congress candidate Ravi Naik for the North Goa parliamentary seat. Naik and his son Roy find themselves indicted in the very same report for their links to Goa's drug mafia.
Good news: Corona patients recovering fast in India, know what the figures say
New Delhi: The whole world is battling Coronavirus, but in the meantime, there is a relief news in India. Yes, even though cases of corona infection are still coming up in the country, but the good
West Bengal elections: BJP is focusing on these communities, quietly engaged in changing the electoral picture
In West Bengal, the elections are going to be held in 8 phases, all the parties are eyeing the Muslim votes. 30% of the population here is of the Muslim community and has special importance in
No change in government employees' retirement age: Chandy
Thiruvananthapuram, March 2 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy clarified on Monday that his government has no plans to increase the retirement age of state government employees.The current
Excise Policy Case: Hearing on Arvind Kejriwal's petition today, Delhi CM challenges ED summons
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea challenging the summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the investigation into the money laundering case related to the
Vijay Mallya contempt case: Supreme Court to hear last on January 18, said - have waited a lot
The Supreme Court made an important announcement on Tuesday in the contempt case against Vijay Mallya. The Supreme Court said that the case in which fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya has been
Supply of Needle-Free Corona Vaccine started: Currently to be used in 7 states, Zydus Cadila will give one dose of ZyCoV-D for Rs 358
The supply of ZyCoV-D, another vaccine to protect against the coronavirus, has started. The special thing is that this vaccine is needle-free, which means you will not have to bear the pain of any
Maidaan: Before the release of Maidaan, a big blow to the film's producer Boney Kapoor, the court gave this order, to know the matter
Filmmaker Boney Kapoor himself was embroiled in legal trouble as a vendor accused him of not paying a bill of Rs 1 crore for the supply of equipment during the making of the film 'Maidaan'. Now the
Afghanistan Earthquake Today: Earthquake tremors felt in Afghanistan, magnitude 4.7 on the Richter scale
Afghanistan Earthquake Today: Earthquake tremors have been felt in Afghanistan. Today i.e. on March 9, at 7.06 am, the intensity of the earthquake was 4.7. The matter of relief is that there was no
Modi has destroyed Gujarat's farmers, says Rahul
Yavatmal (Maharashtra), April 4 (IANS) Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Friday attacked the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, accusing him of "ruining" the farmers of
Surprised by rumours against land acquisition bill: Modi
New Delhi, March 22 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said he was surprised by the rumours spread against the land acquisition bill.Addressing the country's farmers in his monthly radio
