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The political drama surrounding Goa’s casino industry is still ongoing, and in its latest twist, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged that the present Goa government has been facilitating the recruitment of Nepalis in the casino industry, thereby hampering the job prospects of the locals.
On April 28, AAP party leader and Panaji by-poll candidate, Valmiki Naik, accused the ruling BJP party of allowing Nepali natives to be on the ‘payroll’ of casinos. Naik was joined by Party General Secretary, Pradeep Padgaonkar, and both politicians alleged that the government was in cahoots with the casinos, even going so far as to claim that the opposition parties were also involved in the matter.
“Recruitment of staff for Casino operations in Goa is going on in Nepal with the blessings of the government as well as the opposition. We have social media advertisements to show Nepali youth from a place in Dhangadi are being invited for various positions in casinos. The government too is working only for the casinos, and now it has gone a step further in ensuring that they have manpower from abroad who could then be registered as voters like it has been done in case of North Eastern Casino employees,” Padgaonkar stated in a joint press conference.
AAP even claimed that the government was building office structures for casinos, with the opposition not raising their voice against the issue. “This shows that all are hand in gloves in this robbery,” Padgaonkar said.
The party even pointed out that while the government is favoring the casino industry, basic amenities of the local people are being ignored.
“Government is spending to build offices for casinos. But doesn’t care to give toilets in Parikatten in Khola in Canacona, despite adopting it as a model village. There are no health centers, no toilets along highways and schools are neglected. What kind of a government is this that looks after the welfare of Casinos? The casinos were brought in the Mandovi River by the Congress-led government and nursed well by the BJP-led government,” Padgaonkar added.
These allegations come just a few weeks after State Revenue and IT Minister Rohan Khaunte’s allegations stating that casino operators were planning to infiltrate and influence the 2019 General Elections by illegally enrolling casino employees in the electoral roll. The complaint had led the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Narayan Sawant announcing that a majority of the applications made by casino employees who had applied to include their names in the Porvorim constituency had been rejected. Moreover, a two-member committee was set up to look into the matter to clarify whether any government servant, politician, an individual or even a businessman was involved in getting the casino staffers enrolled in the electoral roll.
The Goa leg of the Lok Sabha elections was conducted on April 23, with results slated to be announced on May 23.