Accusing both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the RSS of toying with the sentiments of the people of Karnataka and Goa over the dispute related to the Mahadayi river waters, AICC's Goa in-charge Manickam Tagore on Saturday said that the state's Chief Minister Pramod Sawant should repond courageously to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent controversial remarks in Belgavi.
Addressing his first press conference in Panaji, after taking charge as the All India Congress Committee in-charge of the coastal state, Tagore also said that the BJP's position on the contentious water-sharing dispute was invariably linked to elections in either state.
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“BJP and RSS are not sensitive towards Goa’s right, for them important is to win elections. They are playing politics with Karnataka and Goa,” he said. Tagore was in Goa to take stock of the party's organisational and political affairs.
“CM Pramod Sawant should show courage to condemn remarks of Amit Shah, who has taken away rights of people. Congress stands for Goa’s welfare and will be with people. We will fight for the rights of the people,” he said.
Shah during a recent party meeting in Belgavi in poll-bound Karnataka had claimed that the BJP had resolved the Mahadayi deadlock with the Central Water Commission's to approve a detailed project report related to the Kalasa-Banduri project. Shah had also suggested that the Goa government, which is headed by the BJP, had agreed to the "solution" worked out by the Centre and the Karnataka government, which is also headed by the BJP. His comments have triggered a furore in Goa, with two cabinet ministers openly challenging Shah's comments.
“Congress has never created rifts between states. We have always dealt with such issues on an emotional level. BJP is doing this (creating rifts) to increase their seats in Karnataka during Lok Sabha election. They are in a panic situation, because they are losing seats there,” Tagore said.