Goa Congress denies illegal mining charges
January 17th, 2012 - 4:48 pm ICT by IANS
Panaji, Jan 17 (IANS) The ruling Congress in Goa Tuesday shrugged off allegations of proximity to the multi-crore illegal mining lobby, even as it welcomed a politician arrested a day ago for a major illegal mining scam.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Subhash Shirodkar told reporters that before admitting Jitendra Deshprabhu into the party, the Congress high command had taken into consideration the fact that the ticket aspirant had been arrested by the Crime Branch in an illegal mining case.
“The high command has taken all that into consideration before inducting him in,” Shirodkar said.
Deshprabhu, a former national secretary of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was arrested after the Goa government’s mining department found him guilty of illegal mining.
The mining department had fined Deshprabhu Rs.1.7 crore for carrying out illegal bauxite mining in Korgao village, 30 km from here, before the leader was arrested by the Crime Branch after a right to information (RTI) activist filed a criminal complaint against him.
The Congress-led coalition government led by Chief Minister Digambar Kamat has come under severe criticism over the issue of illegal mining here, with civil society groups as well as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging a massive scam and involvement of several cabinet ministers.
Senior BJP leaders have directly accused Kamat for the Rs.25,000 crore illegal mining scam, which is already being probed by a judicial commission led by Justice M.B. Shah, which is also investigating illegal mining in other parts of the country.
- Goa NCP leader summoned in illegal mining case - Jul 11, 2011
- Elections ahead, Congress, BJP reach out to mining lobby (Goa Newsletter) - Jan 28, 2012
- NCP leader arrested for illegal mining - Aug 04, 2011
- NCP leader accused of illegal mining - Jul 04, 2011
- Will Congress do a Yeddyurappa with Goa's Kamat? (Letter from Goa) - Sep 21, 2011
- NCP leader arrested for illegal mining, hospitalised - Aug 05, 2011
- Goa illegal mining scam worth $423 million: Trinamool Congress - Feb 15, 2012
- 'Congress ministers, legislators involved in legal mining' - Sep 23, 2011
- Ruling NCP leaders' role in illegal mining worries Goa BJP - May 09, 2011
- NCP leader, two officials booked in illegal mining case - May 10, 2011
- Goa court orders probe against NCP leader, bureaucrat - May 07, 2011
- Goa mining scam: Ruling NCP demands thorough probe - Sep 24, 2011
- BJP, Congress in nexus over illegal mining: Goa activists - Sep 23, 2011
- Ex-deputy speaker named as Congress' Goa poll campaign manager - Feb 08, 2011
- Kamat to present facts on mining scam to Goa Congress - Oct 14, 2011
Tags: aspirant, bauxite mining, bjp leaders, cabinet ministers, chief minister, civil society groups, coalition government, congress committee, crime branch, criminal complaint, goa congress, goa government, gpcc, judicial commission, kamat, mining department, national secretary, nationalist congress party, shirodkar, subhash