'Parrikar can convert immoral casino operations into moral'

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has the ability to convert the immoral casino industry in Goa into a moral one, a senior RSS leader said Saturday.

The leader, Indresh Kumar, was speaking to IANS on the sidelines of a national security seminar organised by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-backed think tank in the coastal beach village of Calangute, 15 km from the state capital Panaji.

"If there is immorality, he (Parrikar) will try to make it moral," Kumar said, praising the IITian chief minister for his administrative skills and good governance.

The opposition as well as civil society have accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government in the state of turning back on its poll promise of doing away with offshore casinos parked in the Mandovi river off Panaji.

The BJP, under Parrikar, when in the opposition, had protested against the casino industry. The party had called it an "immoral" industry while linking it to money laundering for several years and demanding that the offshore casinos be thrown into the sea without delay.

However, after coming to power in March 2012, the BJP government sought time to act against the casino industry, even permitting a larger offshore casino vessel.

Kumar asked Goans to have patience with Parrikar but added there was need to keep reminding the chief minister of his promises time and again.

"If he has made a commitment, we should wait and raise an alarm again and again as a reminder that he should free us from it (casinos). I am sure about Parrikar. If he has committed, he will remove it," Kumar said.

Differentiating between morality and immorality in personal and private lives, Kumar said: "If you and your wife make love in the bedroom, it is morality. If you do it outside, it is immorality. I have no wife, otherwise I would have given my example. That is why my friend (referring to this correspondent), I have given your example," Kumar said.