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Sardinha fears communalisation of Goa

Outgoing Goa chief minister Francisco Sardinha, who ruled comfortably for 11 months with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party, now fears the saffron party may create a communal divide in the tourist state.

"I hope, like in some other states of the country, Muslim and Christians in Goa also do not suffer," he said while addressing his last press conference at his official residence in Altinho before leaving for Raj Bhavan to submit his resignation.

Sardinha predicted that the four legislators who defected from his party on Monday night might join the BJP camp.

"After forming a full-fledged BJP government, they may simply go ahead with their communal agenda and hamper the harmony here," he said, adding that he would oppose the BJP tooth and nail.

Incidentally, among the eight new entrants to the BJP are two Christians and one Muslim, who claim to have responded to BJP president Bangaru Laxman's call to the minorities. The group of four who split from Sardinha's camp, and is now supporting the BJP, includes three Christians.

Rather than attack the BJP directly for stabbing him in the back by withdrawing support, Sardinha preferred to be sarcastic, thanking the saffron party for proving once again that they cannot be trusted.

He recalled how the BJP had withdrawn support to Dr Wilfred de Souza's government in the past. "Dr Willy had warned me repeatedly in this regard. He has been proved right," Sardinha conceded.

While the BJP has said that the issue of evacuee property in Mayem was the main reason for withdrawing support, Sardinha alleged that the BJP tried to give the issue a communal colour rather than resolve it.

The BJP was enraged with Sardinha for protecting a person called Antonio Pereira, who claimed to be the legal heir of the evacuee family from Portugal and tried to grab the land in question. The BJP, on the other hand, moved a legislation to give ownership rights of the land and houses to the villagers.

Countering BJP's allegations of wasteful expenditure, foreign junkets and increasing the fiscal deficit, Sardinha said, "I want to see how the BJP now gets Goa out of the debt trap."

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