The former Union Minister and Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, on Monday termed the demolition of 157 houses, belonging to Kannadigas at Baina Beach in Goa, an “inhuman act” of the Goa government.
Talking to The Hindu here on Monday, Mr. Kharge said the decision to demolish these houses without giving residents an opportunity to remove their belongings has exposed the animosity towards people from Karnataka. Mr. Kharge said that if these houses were constructed illegally, the government should have given ample time and relocated the families living in these houses before demolishing the structures causing minimum economic damage to the families.
“Goa Chief Minister has done a great injustice to the people of Karnataka by this act…..I will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar, who hails from Goa, protesting against the demolition and demand proper rehabilitation and compensation to the affected people,” he said.
Mr. Kharge said that due to the non-cooperative attitude of the Goa government, the Kalasa-Banduri Nala project and the Mahadayi diversion project could not be taken up and the Congress had been requesting Mr. Modi to intervene in the matter.
Mr. Kharge refused to comment on a proposal to constitute a three-member commission to recommend salary and other allowances to parliamentarians.
Coming down heavily on the Prime Minister for his comments about the UPA government and the Congress during his visits abroad, Mr. Kharge said that the Prime Minister, who had no time to look into the woes of the farmers or visit drought-hit areas in the country, had once again proved that he was a Non-Resident Indian Prime Minister (NRI PM).
“The Prime Minister who seldom opens his mouth in Parliament was making these uncalled for comments about the previous UPA governments and its achievements and about the Congress abroad, and if he (Mr Modi) makes these comments in India we would also give befitting answers,” he said.
On the assurances made during the current United States visit about the reforms to attract foreign investment, Mr. Kharge said that Mr. Modi, during his 16-month rule, had made nothing tangible for introducing the promised reforms and was rather making such empty promises abroad.
Congress leader M. Mallikarjun Kharge says he will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi
