Panaji, Feb 27: Goa's opposition Congress party Wednesday accused Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of nepotism in allotting an industrial plot to his son and compared him with former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yedyurappa of the BJP.
Yeddyurappa was booked and arrested for denotifying land on the outskirts of Bangalore and handing it to his kin and relatives during his chief ministership. Like Yeddyurappa then, Parrikar also belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Congress spokesperson Sudip Tamhankar demanded a probe by the anti-graft wing of the state police into the alleged "out of turn" allotment of a plot to Parrikar's son Abhijat for setting up a hydraulics and pneumatics unit at the Tuem Industrial Estate, 30 km from here.
The allegations have been rejected by a top Goa official attached with the state industries ministry.
"There is no difference between what B.S. Yedyurappa did with his plot allotments and Parrikar's action. Both have favoured their kin and allotted them plots," Tamhankar alleged.
The Congress claimed that the plot was handed over by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which is chaired by the chief minister himself.
The Goa industries department has, however, claimed that no irregularities have been observed in the allotment of the plot to the chief minister's son.
Industries director Faizi Hashmi told reporters the plots had been allotted after due advertisement and inviting applications from the general public.
"The entire allotment process has been open, transparent and as per the procedure that has been laid down," Hashmi said.
