Subhash Velingkar of the regional outfit Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) on Friday promised to rid Panaji of the off-shore casinos, if elected.
The former Goa RSS chief on Friday released his party manifesto in which the GSM has promised to rid Panaji of the off-shore casinos and to push them in the high sea. It also promises to force the State government to regulate the casino operations by appointing the gaming commission which has only remained on paper.
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“Casinos have destroyed the Panaji city, by their sheer presence and with the ethical and social ills they propagate. I promise to do away with them from the city,” Mr. Velingkar, who is contesting in Panaji bypoll, said.
The seven off-shore casinos and nearly 10 onshore casinos in Goa have been a politically sensitive subject, especially when it comes to the BJP which had promised to cleanse Panaji of casinos, when in the Opposition. Once in power, however, successive governments led by the BJP and its Chief Minister the late Manohar Parrikar, were accused of hobnobbing with the casino promoters, by the Opposition.
Mr. Velingkar, in his manifesto, has also promised to tackle the city’s congestion, parking woes as well as setting up a task force to rehabilitate slums in the State capital.
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Mr. Velingkar said his “ jholi ” collection of election fund from the people has a good response.
Earlier, the Congress candidate for the Panaji bypoll Atanasio Monserrate promised to clear offshore casinos from the State capital within 100 days of being elected. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has long back announced its opposition to casinos in river Mandovi.