Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday refuted the claim by Congress MP and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi that BJP has turned Goa into a model state for corruption. Sawant said Rahul participating in the 27-day ‘Goy Rakhonn Yatra’ with the aim to defeat BJP in the 2027 assembly elections will have no impact on state politics.The CM said Rahul should think 10 times before he makes any allegations.“He will come and wave to the public for five minutes and walk in the rally for 10 minutes will not have any impact on Goa’s politics. Whatever Congress yatra or jatra has turned into, it is totally failure,” Sawant said.He said that the development model of Goa should be highlighted in the country. “Many politicians and others have visited the state to study Swayampurna Goa model. They have witnessed the Goa development model. We have developed two airports in the state and upgraded Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) and if one can look at this development, whatever allegation is made there is no substance in it,” the CM said.He said Rahul should first explain to the people of the state about Congress govt’s achievements in the state and then he should speak on BJP govt.Sawant said that BJP has given the list of its achievements in a book which is with the people of the state.He said that Rahul has disrespected the Kunbi shawl which is promoted by state govt. Sawant said that Goans will never forget it. “We have honoured PM with the same shawl and the PM has kept the shawl till the function got over. The PM has always respected Goans and its culture.”Rahul on Sunday accused BJP govt in Goa of turning the state into a “model of corruption” for other states to follow, saying it practised “high-tech corruption, land corruption, every type of corruption”.Addressing the gathering at the culmination of the party’s Goy Rakhonn Yatra, he said only Congress could dismantle it. Rahul accused state govt of having reduced governance to one task: snatching land from farmers and the poor and selling it to outsiders for crores.“Goa is a paradise, the best place in the country, with the best culture. But your government is snatching land from farmers and the poor and selling it to outsiders for crores of rupees,” Rahul said. “They have only one job: making money out of Goa, looting people of their land and resources, and handing them over to their billionaire friends.”
