Aam Aadmi Party said that nothing had changed since the sensational ‘scarlet keeling case’ with successive governments whether of the Congress or the BJP playing host to drug mafias in the state. AAP made a sensational claim that besides a host of issues that troubled the governor SatyaPal Malik forcing him to speak out against the Pramod Sawant Government, rave parties by drugs mafia in defiance of all laws was the last straw. It said that continuation of the governor would have ripped apart the strong nexus which the politicians in Goa have been having with the drugs mafia for long. AAP said that there was no option before the BJP but to mutually agree to ease the governor out.
Addressing media, AAP Convenor Elvis Gomes said that while the common man was told to ‘behave’ during lockdown and the period thereafter in view of the rising number of covid cases, rave parties with drugs and narcotic substances were happening with regularity defying all laws. He said that the Pramod Sawant Government was either in collusion or had proved to be ineffective in tackling the menace.
“There is huge money to be made. Goa under BJP has become the vice capital of India. The money is routed into political funding. It appeared that Governor had got the wind of all the drugs operations in Goa with his experience in handling Kashmir. He had become a thorn in the flesh to this government. But then like any BJP politician, Governor placed party interest above that of the state and allowed himself to be moved away” said Gomes further stating that an in-house Governor would have been better than an outsourced one from Maharashtra who would not be accessible.
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP for distancing itself from Kapil Jhaveri the Bollywood actor who is now under arrest for hosting the drugs party, AAP General Secretary Pradeep Padgaonkar said ‘Kapil Jhaveri’s’ name was twisted to make him ‘Vishal Jhaveri’. He said that now it had become common for the BJP to play with names of accused to save itself of the embarrassment it was facing for its leaders seen openly with the disgraced actor. He also showed newsmen videos released by a group called ‘MOGG’ showing different politicians from the BJP with Kapil Jhaveri.
“Recently, BJP had said that Roy Naik who has joined the BJP was not the same Roy who was accused by the party and late Manohar Parrikar years ago of being involved in drugs. Now, their spokesperson says that one who is arrested is Vishal Jhaveri. Everyone knows how deep the nexus is” said Padgaonkar showing photos of Kapil Jhaveri with the who is who of Goan politics. He said that a photo with someone as an actor was acceptable but the actor’s presence on the dais at official functions of the party or government was not acceptable. He also said that the involvement of Kapil Jhaveri in the Tirumala Tirupathi multi State coop credit society in Goa needed deeper investigation as he was seen in the company of Goan politicians.
Meanwhile Gomes also directed his attack against the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) which he said had failed to do any better in the state. “ They had started an office in Goa for local operations after the infamous scarlet keeling case. However NCB has not done much to control drugs in Goa” said Gomes
