No government at all, only goons are ruling the state: Parrikar

Panaji, Nov 27 (UNI) Former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today charged the Congress-led coalition government with resorting to corrupt practices to stay in power.

''There is no government at all, only goons are ruling the state and Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane has lost control over the ministers,'' Mr Parrikar alleged while addressing a press conference here today.

Crores of rupees exchanged hands for clearing the new town and country plan 2011 which envisages destruction of 2.5 crore square metres of forest cover, Mr Parrikar alleged.

''Cutting down two or three trees here and there is nothing compared to the plans under the new scheme which pose a threat to the environment. Goa will become a concrete jungle,'' he said.

He said the CBI, Election Commission and the Income Tax Department should probe into source of crores of rupees donated to various trusts for building temples at different places in south Goa to lure voters in the coming elections.

He said he would soon lodge a complaint with the three agencies as the funds were part of the corruption in tender clearances.

This also showed how panicky the Congress party was before the elecions.

Mr Parrikar demanded an apology from the Chief Minister and PWD Minister Ramakrishna Dhavlikar for creating confusion about the Zuari Bridge on the Goa-Mumbai national highway, linking north and south Goa. The bridge was reopened six months after an abrupt closure when the Central Road Research Institute found no ''structural distress'' on the bridge that had developed some micro cracks.

Terming withdrawal of the CBI probe into some alleged discrepancies in the conduct of IFFI during his tenure in the year 2004 as a ''stunt'', Mr Parrikar said the Congress' evil design was to drag the issue on till the coming elections for political expediency.

When the CBI probe launched at the instance of Rane government after his cabinet decision, what made the government to withdraw the inquiry following a criminal complaint of a Congress office bearer afresh on the issue recently, he questioned.

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