Avoid controversial remarks, Parrikar tells ministers

Francis D'Souza had said that India was already a Hindu Nation, a comment which then attracted a lot of flak

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has asked all his ministers not to answer tricky questions and avoid controversial remarks.

Parrikar confessed to giving these instructions to his cabinet members, during the question hour in the ongoing monsoon session of the state assembly.

"I have spoken to all my ministers and I have told them to avoid those answers and words which someone is likely to lift and create controversy," Parrikar said.

The chief minister's partial gag order comes at a time when two cabinet ministers and his deputy chief minister triggered national controversies with their comments in the last one month.

While Cooperation Minister Deepak Dhavalikar, in his assembly speech last week, was wishful of seeing a Hindu Nation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his brother and Public Works Department Minister Sudin Dhavalikar demanded a ban on bikinis and mini-skirts.

The controversy over Deepak Dhavalikar's 'Hindu nation' remark also found mention in parliament.

On Monday, Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza said that India was already a Hindu Nation, a comment which then attracted a lot of flak.

Parrikar now claims that some of the words uttered by his ministers were "lifted on purpose" in order to create controversy.