Madkaikar’s allegations against govt false: BJP national secretary

Panaji: BJP national general secretary Arun Singh on Thursday said former Goa BJP minister Pandurang Madkaikar’s allegation of corruption was “false”.
“He (Madkaikar) lied in front of everyone. Govt under chief minister Pramod Sawant is working honestly, and nobody can make corruption allegations of even one rupee against it,” Singh said.
He mentioned that the party is discussing taking action against Madkaikar. “Since the party formed govt in Goa, it is working honestly for the people of the state,” he said. “One person’s allegation does not make any difference as people know govt is honest.”
Singh said the party is concerned about the people, and the people continue to elect BJP in Goa. BJP is a democratic party, Singh said, and functionaries should know what to speak and what not to speak.
Last week, ministers in the BJP-led govt downplayed the allegation made by former BJP minister and ex-MLA Pandurang Madkaikar that there is widespread corruption in state govt, and one needs to pay lakhs of rupees to get “files cleared”.
Ministers said Madkaikar should name the minister and should not make baseless allegations. Some even said that they can’t be the ones involved, as they do not have a department that issues permissions.
Madkaikar, who was the power minister in the Manohar Parrikar govt in 2017, was dropped due to ill health. He said he paid a bribe of nearly Rs 20 lakh to the PA of a minister to get his file passed.
“Last week, I paid Rs 15-20 lakh to one minister for a small work,” he said after a meeting with BJP national secretary (organisation) B L Santosh, who was on a two-day visit to the state.
“If my name is taken, I will respond to it. I don’t have any departments that have a public connect. I don’t have departments where I can take money,” said social welfare minister, Subhash Phal Dessai.