the goan I network
MARGAO
Asserting that the BJP government has never been serious in tackling drug peddling in the State, then chairman of the House Committee on Drugs and former Minister Mickky Pacheco on Thursday wondered why Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar did not force party MLAs to sign the House Committee report if the party was sincere in putting an end to drug trafficking.
He also claimed that the biggest drug lords were then staying in and around Parra that time, further alleging that the BJP government had sabotaged the House Committee report to protect their party men and sympathisers from exposure.
Speaking his mind on the drug situation in the wake of recent deaths of two persons at Anjuna, Mickky alleged that BJP MLAs Michael Lobo and Vishnu Surya Wagh did not sign on the House Committee report at the instance of the BJP leadership. "If the BJP was serious in fighting the drug mafia, the party leaders, including Manohar Parrikar should have forced the two MLAs to sign on the House Committee report," Mickky said.
He wondered whether a fresh House Committee mooted by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar would serve any purpose given the bitter experience in the past and the U-turns done by the government in recent times. "Parrikar and the BJP leadership owed an explanation to the people of Goa why the BJP government tried to sabotage the House Committee report drafted by me. I had taken pains to pen the report running into several pages, but the BJP leaders thought otherwise," he said.
Replying to a question, Mickky said the situation would have been certainly different now if the House Committee report was then signed by the two BJP MLAs and action initiated by the government. "Is drug peddling a problem only restricted along the coastal belt. The situation has turned from bad to worse with drugs now available even in the villages of Goa," the former minister claimed.
Replying to a question, Mickky said the BJP leaders and MLAs are paying lip service and are only shedding crocodile tears on the drug peddling in the State.
"Are they serious in putting an end to drug peddling. People of Goa know the ground reality," he added.
