Goa politicians trying to locate" father of casinos"

With the heat on Casinos full throttle, and the shadow of elections following like an inseparable shadow, the blame games have begun in Goa with political masters trying to hoodwink the electorate on who is responsible for some questionable decisions which are simply opening up skeletons of the past.

While the whole of Goa was puzzled as to why the former Chief Minister Mr Manohar Parrikar had developed such an allergy to casinos in Goa after being the first Chief Minister under whose blessings the first casino came up in Goa, Mr Parrikar dropped a bombshell, claiming that it was the government of Mr Francisco Sardinha which issued the licence to the first casino Caravela, on December 2nd 1999 .

Mr Parrikar also mentioned the presence of Mr Digambar Kamat as the cabinet Minister during that time. However if the same is true, Mr Parrikar should explain as to why he never opposed the licence then,  as the Sardinha government was dependent on the BJP support to survive.

Mr Parrikar also had the opportunity to rescind the decision once he suddenly pulled the carpet under Mr Sardinha's feet and withdrew support to his government while Mr Sardinha was unsuspectingly visiting the Australian continent. But did he approve Mr Sardinha's decision in his tenure as the succeeding Chief Minister? why?

On its part the congress has strongly refuted Mr Parrikars claim and said that the licence for the first casino in Goa, the M V Caravela was given by Mr Parrikar as the Chief Minister on February 17 2001 and said that he was rightly the "father of casinos" in Goa.

The Congress Spokesperson said that While the license for the Caravela casino in Goa was given on February 17 2001, the vessel had already entered the Mandovi on December 16 2000 and was anchored at the fishing jetty for two months without a licence.

Giving more details about the dates of renewal of NOC to the Caravela casino by the Parrikar government in 2004, he informed that while the casino culture was introduced by Mr Parrikar in Goa, he now chooses to blame the Congress on the same issue and accused him of misleading the people.