In an interesting turn of events, Goa Airport Director BC Negi, whose office was blockaded by Congress workers on Monday, said that no permission was given to the Goa Bharatiya Janata Party to host a function to welcome its national president Amit Shah, during the latter’s two-day visit to Goa on Saturday.
Negi, who incidentally was on leave, when Shah arrived in Goa on Saturday morning, said that an enquiry would be initiated by his office as to how a political meeting was held at the premises of Goa’s military airport at Dabolim, located around 35 km from Panaji.
“No permission was given,” Negi said, even as a delegation of Congress workers led by AICC secretary Girish Chodankar laid siege to his office on Monday. Negi has also assured that an enquiry would be initiated into the matter.
Reacting to the development, BJP Atate general secretary Sadanand Shet Tanavde said that the crowd who had assembled to welcome Shah had gathered spontaneously. “It was a spontaneous crowd. People stop to see leaders of such stature. Even the mic and the stage was makeshift,” Tanavde said.
BJP State president Vinay Tendulkar said that the Congress had been raking the issue to earn publicity.
“let Sonia Gandhi come, they (Congress) can also welcome her at the airport. We have no objection,” Tendulkar told The Pioneer.
On Sunday, a local lawyer and activist Aires Rodrigues filed a complaint before the Secretary of Union Ministry for Civil Aviation stating that laws were broken to host a political meeting at the Goa airport, which is functioning from an Indian Naval base, INS Hansa and is a vital installation.
Chodankar, who led the Congress gherao said that the BJP was misuing power for cheap political end and had put the security at the Goa airport to risk by hosting a meeting for nearly 2,500 party workers at the airport.
“”Now that the airport director has said that no permissions were given for the party meeting at the airport, action should be taken against the BJP and Shah for the audacity with which they held the function at a vital installation... This is a clear case of misuse of power,” Chodankar said.