'Communal comments elsewhere creating tension in Goa'

Communal comments outside the state are breeding tension between the minority community and the BJP-led coalition government in Goa, a BJP legislator said on Thursday.

Speaking during a discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor for his address to the state legislature, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Vishnu Wagh also said that one of the key reasons why the saffron party had been elected to power in the state was the support of the minority community -- both Christians and Muslims account for nearly a third of the state's population.

"Today, outside Goa, some groups are responsible for making comments which are affecting the minority community here. There is talk of building a temple of Nathuram Godse, banning cattle slaughter and we see a ripple effect of these statements in Goa," Wagh said.

"The 'gharwapasi' (re-conversion) controversy happens in UP and it creates an issue in Goa. Beef is banned in Maharashtra and the issue triggers a flare-up here," Wagh said, adding that people in Goa were beginning to get upset with the BJP because of such incidents.

Wagh said the government could not afford to ignore the rising sentiment of popular irritation with the dispensation.

"The Goa government came to power because the minority supported us. We should remember that," Wagh said.

--Indo-Asian news Service

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