Days after Jaydev Mody’s Deltin Corp, which operates three offshore casinos in the coastal State, bought a 65 per cent stake in ISl franchise FC Goa, a Congress legislator alleged in the State legislative Assembly, that casinos operators would soon decide the Chief Minister and Government Ministers in the near future.
Speaking during a debate on budgetary demands, Opposition legislator Pandurang Madkaikar also said that the rapid growth of the casino industry in the State could have made it the third-largest casino destination in the world after las Vegas and Macau.
“Salgaocar and Dempo, who are considered among the richest in Goa, could not manage FC Goa, but a casino owner has taken over FC Goa now. Tomorrow they will take over Goa. Jaydev Mody will decide who will be a Minister and a Chief Minister. In ten years, casinos will take over Goa and all of us. Irrespective of whether we are from BJP or Congress, we will all be responsible for this,” Madkaikar told the Goa legislative Assembly.
Goa-based businessmen Shrivinas Dempo and Dattaraj Salgaocar, who were formerly co-owners of FC Goa, along with Videocon's Venugopal Dhoot and Indian test captain Virat Kohli, quit the venture after differences with the ISl.
"It is to the credit of both, Salgaocar and Dempo, that this has happened. They showed wisdom and a pioneering spirit in their stewardship of the club, which comes from a deep love for the game. We hope to walk the same path and try and take the team to the next level,” Mody said in a Press statement after becoming the new co-owner of FC Goa last week.
Ahead of the 2012 State Assembly poll, the BJP had promised that if voted to power, its Government would shift the offshore casinos anchored in the River Mandovi into the Arabian sea. However, after becoming Chief Minister, Parrikar, now Union Defence Minister asked for four years to complete the task.
Goa currently has five operational offshore casinos and nine onshore casinos operating from five star hotels, which attract hundreds of thousands of gamblers to the State annually. The financial clout of the casino industry, Madkaikar believes, will call the shots in the State in the years to come.
“Goa is the largest third destination for casinos in the world. The same dealers in las Vegas and Macau are invested in casinos in Goa,” Madkaikar said.
“The Chief Minister should go to las Vegas and Macau. Macau also has large casinos and is dominated by the casino lobby. The identity of Macau is finished. It is ruled by the casino mafia,” he also said.
Goa Chief Minister laxmikant Parsekar however disputed the claims made by Madkaikar, while also blaming the erstwhile Congress Governemnt for ushering in casinos into the State.
"The casinos are a gift of the Congress party, which first amended the law to allow casino operations in Goa and gave licences left, right and centre. We have actually not granted any new licence to casinos," Parsekar said.
"Casinos have helped Goa when the State was facing a bad financial crunch, but I have never supported them," Parsekar said.