'Sonia's promise on stable govt in Goa hollow'

Panaji, May 27: The BJP today debunked Congress President Sonia Gandhi's claim to provide ''stable and democratic government'' to Goa and asked her why there were ten Chief Ministers in a decade of Congress rule during 1990-2000 even as it had destabilised the BJP regime in 2005 through ''defections''.

Reacting to observations of Ms Gandhi during her election campaign in the city yesterday, BJP national spokesperson in charge of Goa, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, questioned her as to how the Congress could provide a stable government.

Interacting with mediapersons here, he said the Congress, ''responsible for unconstitutionally dismissing the duly elected and progressive BJP government by engineering defections'', owed an explanation to the people of Goa.

Criticising the Congress President for dubbing the BJP as ''communal' and fomenting disharmony, Mr Rudy said the Congress' policies of appeasement for ''vote-bank'' politics had created social and economic disharmony as was evident in Goa.

The Congress, which has not yet scrapped the controversial Regional Plan-2011 and put it on hold due to public outcry, was the author of the very plan that sought to damage the very fragile ecosystem in Goa, he alleged.

The statement of AICC General Secretary in charge of Goa, Margret Alva, that the plan was scrapped, was a ''blatant lie to mislead the people even as the land sharks and dealers were only lurking in the shadow waiting for the party to return to resume the destruction of Goa,'' Mr Rudy claimed.

He said the observation of Ms Gandhi that the Congress was committed to preserving ecology was ''indeed amusing as she appears to be totally unaware of the ground realities.''

UNI