Parrikar government with casino, mining mafia: AAP

Manohar Parrikar-led government in Goa is siding with the casino lobby and the mining mafia in Goa, Aam Aadmi Party`s Yogendra Yadav said Thursday.

Panaji: Elected as a ray of hope against rampant corruption, the Manohar Parrikar-led government in Goa is siding with the casino lobby and the mining mafia in Goa, Aam Aadmi Party`s (AAP) Yogendra Yadav said Thursday.

Yadav, who is in Goa for a day, was addressing a press conference late Thursday after a meeting with AAP workers in the state. "Parrikar started with hope and made concrete promises, but instead of removing casinos, more casinos have come in. There is nothing done about the mining mafia, and this government and officials are siding with mafias rather than those struggling against it," Yadav said. The social scientist, formerly a member of the University Grants Commission (UGC), also said that after Delhi, Goa would be part of the next clutch of states where his party would make its presence felt. The maverick political party, which has promised to radically change the manner in which politics and governance is conducted, has emerged as one of the three main contenders for the state assembly elections in Delhi. "Goa is a small state with a high level of literacy and media exposure. It has bi-polar politics (like in Delhi, where the BJP and the Congress are key political forces), and corruption has reached a naked height, and we have a presence here," Yadav said. He identified these factors as why Goa could be on the AAP radar as it tries to expand its presence after the forthcoming round of assembly elections.