In a first direct threat to the Goa BJP following the electoral setback in Karnataka, the Goa Forward, a ruling alliance partner, on Thursday warned the ruling BJP, that if it does not work towards resuming mining at the earliest, the regional party would rethink its support for the upcoming lok Sabha elections.
Goa Forward president Vijai Sardesai, who is a minister for Town and Country Planning in the BJP-led coalition government in Goa, also said that the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, should pass an ordinance to resume mining, which was brought to a standstill following Supreme Court order in March this year.
“One would have thought that after the debacle in Karnataka, the BJP would have acted quickly to solve the mining issue, but no steps are being taken towards that end, despite the fact that the BJP is in power in Goa and at the Centre,” Sardesai told a press conference in Panaji on Thursday. The BJP-led alliance Government currently comprises of 14 BJP MlAs, three each from the Goa Forward and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and three independent MlA, which makes it a tally of 23 MlAs in the 40 member Goa legislative assembly.
The significance of three MlAs, the absence of which would take the ruling alliance tally to 20, one short of simple majority, is clearly not lost on Sardesai, who went on to warn the BJP too.
"If the BJP does not resume mining in Goa at the earliest, they will have trouble in the forthcoming lok Sabha elections. I request them to resolve this crisis at the earliest... If they do not do it, we will rethink support to BJP in lok Sabha election," Sardesai warned at the press conference.
The mining issue has been hanging fire in Goa, every since the Supreme Court banned extraction and transportation of iron ore from 88 mining leases from March this year, while also directing the State Government to re-issue mining leases.
The is the second time is less than a decade that all mining in the State has come to a standstill, after mining was banned in 2012, following a combination of bans imposed by the State and central governments as well as the Supreme Court. The ban was later lifted by the apex court in 2014, but the apex court was forced to impose the fresh restrictions while slighting the state government for messing up with the lease renewal processes. While local political parties inclduding the Goa Forward and BJP are rooting for renewal of mining lease in favour of existing lease holders, the newly amended Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation act makes it mandatory for iron leases to be auctioned.