Goa CM visits Amethi, Congress says he’s avoiding work

Panaji:  Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday visited Baraulia village in Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh to pay condolences to the family of a BJP party worker who was shot dead in May, soon after the Lok Sabha polls.

Criticising the visit, the Congress in Goa accused Sawant of running away from pressing issues in the state, while at the same time promising to undertake developmental works instead in Amethi constituency, which was formerly represented by Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

Sawant on Saturday arrived in Baraulia, a village adopted by former Defence Minister late Manohar Parrikar as part of a Parliamentary scheme, along with Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani, who is Lok Sabha MP from Amethi.

“We definitely feel like contributing something in the areas of education or development sector, especially to do with the youth… The (local) authorities should decide. If they allow us, we will do something in the memory of Manohar Parrikar,” Sawant told reporters in Baraulia.

The Chief Minister also said that he had worked as a party worker in Amethi in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and had come in contact with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker Surendra Singh, who was shot dead soon after the 2019 general elections.

“I am glad that I could meet Surendra Singh’s family. I felt bad about what has happened. The party lost a good worker. This loss cannot be made good. But at least we can condole his death. The party organisation is with its workers and their families,” Sawant said after meeting members of Singh’s family.

The Congress in Goa has however lashed out at Sawant, accusing him of running away from critical local issues like unemployment, contamination of fish with formalin and the mining ban.

“There is unrest everywhere in Goa. Chief Minister cannot find time for Goa and he has the time to go to Amethi to solve their problems. Our Chief Minister should first focus on solving issues which Goa is facing,” Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar said.

Published on: June 22, 2019 at 14:00 IST

IANS