As Goa Cong leader gets notices over properties, minister says will expose ‘illegalities’

The Indian Express | 2 weeks ago | 26-06-2022 | 10:40 pm

At a time showcause notices have been issued to at least three properties in which Congress leader Micheal Lobo is a partner, the state’s Town and Country Planning (TCP) minister Vishwajit Rane Sunday promised to expose “illegalities” of people in high positions.Rane had earlier suspended the outline development plans of Parra-Arpora-Nagoa, Calangute-Candolim (all in Bardez) and Vasco (south Goa), saying they would be reviewed because of “discrepancies”. He had sparred with Lobo over the TCP’s decision and Lobo had also alleged that he was being “targeted”.Rane said in a social media post: “Illegalities of people in high holding positions will be exposed. Investigation in this matter is still in process. I appeal to the people of Goa to see the caliber of people you elect. These people are the ones who at the cost of their power make profit for personal gains.”“I would like to say that we are in the final stages of closing the issues, making necessary corrections and reverting them back to its status in ODPs and Regional Plan 2021 in ODP areas where illegalities have been done and areas have been wrongfully converted for personal gains,” Rane wrote. He also said that some people had been threatened, compelled to sell their land and have had their properties shown as orchards and open spaces.“….it is pretty interesting to note how people are in a hurry to know the outcome. Those making statements should have some patience and wait for the report to be tabled on the floor of the house,” Rane wrote in a tweet. He had earlier said that he would make important revelations in the upcoming monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly next month.Lobo, the leader of opposition in the Goa legislative assembly was a minister in the previous Pramod Sawant-led government in the state. He joined the Congress ahead of the legislative assembly polls held in February. He won his seat of Calangute for the Congress and his wife Delilah Lobo, brought the Siolim seat to the party that now has 11 members in the 40-member Goa legislative assembly.A day earlier, Lobo had shared a news flash about the deteriorating health of Anganwadi workers who had been protesting against the government. In a veiled reference to Rane, who also holds the health and women and child development portfolios, he wrote, “Instead of targeting opposition MLAs the minister would do well to concentrate for the well-being of people and stop injustice and harassment being done to poor Goans.”The Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has been probing cases of illegal land grab in the state and has so far arrested four persons. The Goa police has also been shuttering illegal massage centres in the state and has conducted several raids.Rane has received a slew of complaints, 61 at last count, after he asked people of the state to report illegal constructions and illegal usurping of land by alleged tampering with land use records on his email address.Lobo is a three-time MLA from Calangute and an influential figure in the Bardez taluka of North Goa where popular beaches such as Baga, Calangute, Candolim and Anjuna are located. This area has been a thriving tourist spot for decades, with several hotels, restaurants and places for tourist activities.

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Digambar Kamat: ‘Don’t know why Congress is seeking my disqualification. It may make some people happy if I exit the party. I have no such intention’

The Indian Express | 1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 10:40 pm

The Indian Express

1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 10:40 pm

Five months after he led the Congress’s campaign for the Goa Assembly polls, the Congress Working Committee (CWC)’s permanent member and ex-chief minister, Digambar Kamat, has now been accused by his own party of allegedly plotting with new entrant Michael Lobo and the ruling BJP to engineer the defection of eight of its 11 MLAs. The Congress is also seeking the disqualification of Kamat and Lobo as legislators. On his part, Kamat has maintained that his supporters have been upset ever since his erstwhile Leader of Opposition (LoP) position was given to Lobo in the newly-constituted Assembly. A seemingly hurt but defiant Kamat speaks to The Indian Express about the crisis raging in the Goa Congress. Excerpts:Why has the crisis hit the Congress in Goa again?To be frank, I don’t know what crisis is going on in the Congress party. I was out of Goa. I came to Goa on Saturday morning. From the airport I went straight to a religious ceremony which was attended by more than 10,000 people. I came back in the evening. In between there was a message that there was a meeting called by Mr Dinesh Rao (the AICC’s Goa in-charge) at Fortune Hotel (Panaji). I could not go because I was there (at the religious function in Cancona) and came back at 8:30 pm. Mr Dinesh Rao said he wants to meet me and came to my house later. He was inquiring if there is anything (happening)  in Goa. I said I am not aware of it. I was out of station for the last two days. He said you just talk to MLAs in case there is anything and he left. Next day I was in Margao. I didn’t even come to Panaji. At about 12:30-1:30 pm some MLAs had come to meet him. He had called them. I was not called. They then called me to ask if I was at home. I said come for lunch. Four or five people came for lunch and left.Rao called you a “conspirator with the BJP” and said you were resorting to “cheap and desperate politics”…I saw the video of Dinesh Rao’s press conference. I was shocked, surprised and stunned to see the way he was talking. People of Goa, people of Margao know me for so many years. I have seen such things before. If I had to take any such action, I had lots of opportunities in 2017, 2022. I stayed with the party when we had a clear mandate and still the party did not form the government or ask me if you can form the government and we lost the opportunity. In 2022, I was the only MLA who contested (from the Congress). And I led the party from the front. Most of the MLAs had gone. I still remained in the party. It was so much easier for me at that time (to change party). Who was going to question me?Did you meet AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik during his Goa visit. He met all the other party MLAs in Congress House.I didn’t have his number. I expected him to call me. I thought he knows me well for so many years. I thought he would at least call me and say what is happening but no…Why has your own party gone to the extent of seeking your disqualification as an MLA?I stayed with the party and led it from the front. This is the reward they are giving me now by filing a disqualification petition for anti-party activities. What anti-party activities? I am not able to understand. Whatever it is I will face it. Disqualification is something my lawyers will take care of. I won’t be bothered about it. Party should find who are the people behind this. Do they want the party to progress or do they want the party to go from bad to worse?Why would your own party want you disqualified?I don’t know. There may be some people who may be happy if I go out of the Congress. I have no such intention. I worked for the party with sincerity. Somebody says the mining lobby is behind this or the real estate lobby is behind this. Where is the mining lobby? For the last ten years there is not even a single mine that is working. Real estate is crying because of Covid. People talk anything. My hard work of so many years in the party has no value. It appears like that. You feel sad.The Congress has been stung by crisis not only in Goa but some other states too. What do you think needs to change?Party has to do a lot of introspection. We are losing election after election. Leaders are leaving the party and going. We saw a person like Kapil Sibal, who was the main Congress spokesperson at one time, leaving. Party has to sit, introspect and take remedial steps. If they are not doing that, what can I say?Does Congress need a change in leadership?I don’t want to make any statement on that. I don’t know what is happening there. I just think they should introspect.Why do you say that you are “retired hurt”?Retired hurt is not out. It means for the time being he is resting. I said retired hurt because my workers were angry because Leader of Opposition was changed.

‘These people have destroyed Goa’: Minister tables report about change of land zones in coastal belt

The Indian Express | 1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 02:40 pm

The Indian Express

1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 02:40 pm

Goa Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday tabled a report in the legislative assembly according to which 3.59 lakh sq m of land in five villages in North Goa’s coastal belt were converted from tenanted land, cultivated land, no development slopes or mangroves to settlement land.The 434 properties which had been changed to settlement zones were located in the villages of Calangute, Candolim, Arpora, Nagoa and Parra. According to the report, the change of zone of the land was carried out in the Outline Development Plan (ODP) from the Regional Plan 2021.Rane said that the change of zone of these lands had been reversed and they have been reverted to the earlier land use. He added that the areas that were reverted to their earlier zone will not be put back in the ODPs and if anybody had a grievance, they had 60 days to file an appeal before the TCP Board. Rane also said that the report had been tabled in the assembly after discussing it with the chief minister and central leaders.“People come to Goa because they love Goa. People come to Goa because they feel that there is a lot of greenery and peace of mind…If you destroy Goa and you make Goa a city or a metro, people will not come to Goa. You have to save Goa for posterity. These are the people who have destroyed Goa. And they should be punished by the people. In every election, people know. They will punish people at the appropriate time,” Rane said.The report did not mention any names or name the owner of the properties. Rane told the media, “I have deliberately not mentioned anybody’s name today. You will come to know in a jiffy what has happened…”The report was tabled in the backdrop of Rane’s war of words with Calangute MLA and leader of opposition Michael Lobo. Rane and Lobo, his former colleague in the previous Cabinet led by Pramod Sawant, have been sparring with each other with the TCP minister accusing Lobo of committing illegalities for “personal gains” during his tenure as chairman of North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA) and Lobo, in turn, saying that he was being “targeted”.Rane later shared information about 10 properties with a total area of 27,647 sq m owned by Lobo and his MLA wife Delilah Lobo in which a ‘change of zone’ was carried out.Responding to Rane’s report, Lobo said that he had no problem if any of the lands were reverted to their earlier zones. “We have changed the zone of only one land and we did that with the permission of the panchayat for a hotel management institution,” he said.The report prepared by a 10-member committee under the TCP does not mention that the changes of zone were carried out by Lobo. However, Rane later made public a letter written by three officials – Planning Assistant Bhalchandra Naik, Assistant Engineer Vikram Tengse and Member Secretary of the NGPDA R K Pandita to the chief town planner on June 13. The letter stated that Lobo was the chairman of the NGPDA from 2012 to 2019 and that he had carried out the ‘change of zone’ in the Calangute-Candolim Planning Area.The letter reads, “The Calangute-Candolim draft and final ODP is prepared under his chairmanship therefore he decided which areas to be changed and which areas to be dropped from the regional plan 2021.” It stated that officials had raised oral objections to the changes being carried out, like reduction in major district road, other roads, tenanted lands, no development slopes, mangrove area with thick habitation. “The answer from Michael Lobo was that I am chairman and local MLA, I know what is required in the said area, I have every right to change the zone of any area which he wants and you (officials) have to sign the plan the way he wants,” the letter says.The committee was appointed to examine three ODPs for Calangute-Candolim Planning Area-2025, Arpora-Nagoa-Parra Planning Area-2030 and Vasco-da-Gama Planning Area. It observed, “Eco-sensitive areas such as paddy field, tenanted lands, no development slopes, etc. have been changed to settlement zone and other developable zones.”Among its findings, the committee noted that “change of zone have been done arbitrarily and without following uniform policy” and “eco-sensitive areas have been changed to developable zones, which may adversely affect the environment”. It also said that “a lot of unauthorised development has come up in the area especially in Calangute-Candolim which has restricted any further widening of the roads, thus leading to chaos in certain areas in terms of vehicular movement etc.”

Daily Briefing: Shiv Sena extends support to presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu; SIT to probe cases against Mohammad Zubair

The Indian Express | 1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 11:40 am

The Indian Express

1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 11:40 am

Good morning, In a fresh setback for Yashwant Sinha’s already-faltering presidential bid, the Shiv Sena has extended its support to the NDA’s presidential candidate, Droupadi Murmu. Shiv Sena chief and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray made the announcement after a meeting with party MPs, where several leaders “requested” him to support Murmu and open the door to a possible reconciliation with the BJP and the breakaway Shinde faction.Why this matters: The Opposition, including the Congress and NCP — the Sena’s MVA allies — has fielded Yashwant Sinha for the July 18 presidential polls. Uddhav’s decision comes just weeks after the MVA government led by him was pulled down by the BJP and Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde. What went wrong: It was never meant to be an extremely tight race — the Opposition had, in fact, framed the contest as a fight between two ideologies — but the campaign has unravelled faster than expected. Further, Sinha’s candidature has split the Opposition. The BSP, JD(S) and Akali Dal announced support to Murmu; ties between allies Congress and the JMM in Jharkhand are strained as the latter, which heads the government, is set to be leaning towards backing the NDA nominee.In the latest instalment of the Indian Express’ Uber Files investigation, we take a look at how the ride-hailing app signed a spree of MoUs with the Centre and many state governments a year after the rape of a 25-year-old passenger by an Uber driver. But most of these proposals remain on paper. What we found: According to records, the company’s public policy head Jordan Condo wanted Uber to “establish public-private partnerships with the government and have influence within the government invested in the success of our business”. Apart from approaching the Ministries of Social Justice and Empowerment; Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; Electronics and Information Technology, and Labour and Employment, among others, in the Centre, it also knocked on government doors in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Haryana. But all these MoUs either failed to take off or stalled after launch.India’s factory output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), came in at a 12-month high of 19.6 per cent in May, compared with a 6.7 per cent growth reported in April, partly on account of the base effect, data from the National Statistical Office showed. An Assistant Sub-Inspector was killed and two policemen injured as militants attacked a checkpoint at Lalbazar in Srinagar, amid multi-layered security cover put in place for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra. The Uttar Pradesh government formed a two-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe six cases lodged against Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair. Of the six cases, two cases are lodged in Hathras district while one case each is registered in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad and Muzaffarnagar.The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has removed some crucial data from its Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) website which include a list of NGOs whose licences have been cancelled, and the annual returns of NGOs. The MHA did not offer any official comment on this move, but officials said it was done because the data was considered “unnecessary” for public viewing.On July 5, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel launched Vande Gujarat Vikas Yatra, a two-week publicity blitzkrieg on two decades of the BJP government. Though the BJP first came to power in the state in 1995, with Keshubhai Patel as CM, the latest campaign is on the period between 2002 — when Narendra Modi took over as chief minister – and 2022. While the programme focuses squarely on the work done under the leadership of Narendra Modi as chief minister from 2001 to 2014, it makes no mention of Modi’s predecessor Keshubhai or the other two CMs of the party – Modi’s successor Anandiben Patel and Vijay Rupani.In our opinion section today, Shreenath A Khimka writes on what the Thackeray-Shinde feud means for Maharashtra: “In this grand game of political chess, Thackeray’s stalemate is likely to persist. Shinde’s Sena may turn the tables by petitioning the new Speaker to disqualify the Thackeray group. However, the real battle for the Sena’s legacy will be fought before the Election Commission.”India’s favourable demographic dividend is at an inflection point of sorts, with the population share of the youth starting to taper off even as the share of the elderly is expected to steadily surge during 2021-2036. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which experienced a rise in proportion of youth population to total population till 2021, are expected to see a decline from hereon, according to the ‘Youth in India 2022’ report released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.A former college champion in track and field, a winner at multiple national and Asian masters athletics championships, CPI (M) leader MJ Jacob bagged bronze in two hurdles — 200m and 80m — in World Masters Athletics Championship 2022 that ended in Tampere, Finland, on July 10. Jacob won medals in the 80-plus category.🤫 Delhi Confidential: When Priyanka Gandhi landed in Mumbai airport amid the political crisis in Maharashtra, the party was quick to clarify that she was only transitioning through the city on her way to Maldives to be with her daughter, who is completing an instructor level diving course there. The party was, however, silent on Tuesday when it became known that Rahul Gandhi has left for abroad again on a brief personal visit.🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we look at the political crisis faced by Congress in Goa, UN population report, and RSS on Islamic radicalization.Until next time,Rahel Philipose and Srishti Kapoor

Goa: Day after skipping meet with Wasnik, ex-CM Kamat says he was not invited

The Indian Express | 1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 05:40 am

The Indian Express

1 day ago | 13-07-2022 | 05:40 am

A day after the crisis in the Goa Congress seemed to have been averted, the party may still have a lot of damage control to do. Former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, the only MLA who did not meet AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik on Monday, said that he was not called even as he was expecting an invite.On Sunday, AICC Goa desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao had accused both Kamat and Lobo of conspiring with BJP to engineer the defection of at least eight of 11 Congress MLAs to BJP. A day later, Lobo was back at the Congress House to meet Wasnik and Rao, but Kamat was absent.Cut up about being divested of his responsibilities, Kamat said he was the only MLA from the previous Assembly who was left in the Congress before the 2022 polls. “If I had to go (to BJP) I could have gone before the election,” he said.“I led the party from the front. And this is the reward they are giving me by filing some disqualification petition for anti-party activities. What anti-party activities? I am unable to understand. Whatever it is, I will face it. Disqualification is something which will be taken care of by my lawyers. But the party should find out the people doing all this. Do they want the party to progress or they want it to go from bad to worse?” he said.He said, he was not aware of who was receiving offers from the BJP. “There may be some people who might be happy if I go out of the Congress. I have no such intention…my hard work for the party for so many years has no value…You feel sad,” he said.Meanwhile, more trouble seemed to be brewing for Congress legislator Micheal Lobo and his wife Delilah Lobo. Town and Country Planning minister Vishwajit Rane, who had promised to expose the “illegalities perpetrated in the the areas of Calangute, Parra, Arpora-Nagoa and Vasco-da-Gama”, tabled a report in the Assembly on Tuesday.Over the last few months, he exchanged barbs with Lobo, and properties co-owned by Lobo were issued notices by the TCP and the FDA. Lobo is the MLA from Calangute. Rane had earlier alleged that he (Lobo) had misused his position as then chairman of the North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA) and illegally changed land use in the Outline Development Plans.On Tuesday, Rane said properties in these areas have been reverted to their original status. “Goa has to be protected for posterity…I have deliberately not mentioned anybody’s name today. You will come to know in a jiffy what has happened, who was chairman (of the NGPDA),” said Rane.A committee under the Chief Secretary and two IAS officers will fix responsibility in the case which deals with “mass-scale destruction of Goa”, said Rane.Lobo, however, said he had no problem if any land was reverted to its earlier land use. He said only the land use status of one plot had been changed for building a hospitality management institute for which permission was taken from the panchayat concerned.

Congress appoints Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel as senior observers for poll-bound Gujarat, Himachal

The Indian Express | 2 days ago | 12-07-2022 | 05:40 pm

The Indian Express

2 days ago | 12-07-2022 | 05:40 pm

The Congress on Tuesday appointed its two chief ministers — Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan and Bhupesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh — as senior observers of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where Legislative Assembly elections are due to take place later this year.Gehlot will be the senior observer for Gujarat, a state where he was in charge as general secretary in the past. He will be assisted by Chhattisgarh minister T S Singh Deo and former Union minister Milind Deora as observers. Raghu Sharma, who was a minister in the Gehlot cabinet, is the All India Congress Committee in-charge of Gujarat.Baghel, meanwhile, will be in charge of Himachal Pradesh. He will be assisted by senior Rajasthan leader Sachin Pilot and leader of the Opposition in Punjab assembly Partap Singh Bajwa.The move to rope in both the chief ministers is aimed at sending a signal that the party is serious about the two state elections. The party had lost all five states – Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur – which had gone to polls earlier this year.

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