Thaindian News

Panaji, Aug 17 (IANS) Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat has triggered a major controversy here by blaming first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and state’s first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar for the present-day coastal woes.
Bandodkar’s kin, members of civil society and the opposition are up in arms over Kamat’s controversial statement last week.

The chief minister said lack of foresight of both Bandodkar and Nehru in not according special status toGoa after its liberation from the Portuguese regime on Dec 19, 1961, had created a lot of problems for fishermen living along Goa’s coast, in view of the proposed central coastal regulation zone (CRZ) act.

“At that time probably, if the chief minister (Dayanand Bandodkar) had put up certain demands then Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru would have agreed to it… Unfortunately, we did not think on those lines and that’s why we face lots of problem,” Kamat told a function here Saturday.

In a retort, Bandodkar’s daughter Shashikala Kakodkar, also a former chief minister, said no one should dare speak against her father, who was “undoubtedly the architect of modern Goa”.

“How dare anyone speak against Bhau (as Bandodkar was fondly called). His glorious deeds are now being undone by present governments,” Kakodkar told reporters, while reacting to Kamat’s charge.

Kakodkar also said she had broached the issue directly with Kamat Sunday.

The opposition has also lambasted Kamat for his remarks on both Nehru and Bandodkar, who continues to be a revered figure in Goan politics.

“There must be something wrong with Kamat’s mentality if he speaks in this manner about Bhau. Bhau laid a solid foundation as far as social reforms and education is concerned in Goa. And Nehru is such a towering figure in history. How can he cast aspersions on them both,” Parvatkar said.

An editorial in a local English daily, Herald, has advised Kamat to stop living in the past.

“Crying over milk that wasn’t even spilt is not the best way to evade responsibility and to try transferring blame to someone who is not even here to defend himself. It is best that the CM deals with the present, rather than live in the past,” reads the editorial published in the Monday issue.

Meanwhile, Kamat who has courted several controversies in the past has resorted to his standard “I was misquoted by the media” refrain, when asked to clarify on the issue.

A mine owner, Bandodkar was the first chief minister of the state from 1963 till his death Aug 12, 1973.