Cong rebuts Shah's remarks; says Goa not UT to be governed by

The Congress today attacked BJP President Amit Shah over his statement that the next Goa government will be functioning under the leadership of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar saying that "Goa is not a union territory to be governed by Delhi."
"It is for the people of Goa to think on what Shah said. We are not a Union territory to be ruled from Delhi. We are a full fledged state developed much compared to the other states," Goa's Leader of Opposition Pratapsinh Rane told reporters here.
Rane was reacting to remarks made by Shah yesterday at a public meeting in Vasco town.

When asked whether such a trend favours the state, Rane said, "it is not good for the entire country where Defence Minister is seen more interested in Goa than what is happening at the border."
"Parrikar is already ruling the state through remote control. Every weekend he spends here since he became the Defence Minister," Rane quipped.
Yesterday, Shah had said that though Parrikar is needed at Centre the next government in the coastal state will "function under his leadership," irrespective of his posting.

"Goa has given a big asset to the country in Manohar Parrikar. There is a huge demand for Parrikar in Delhi and also here in Goa. The people of Goa demand that we should send Parrikar back to the state," Shah had said.

Goa is going to polls to elect the 40-member House on February 4.
Speculations on who will don the mantle of CM after elections reached feverish pitch after Gadkari, the election in-charge of Goa, had said the CM candidate will either be chosen by elected representatives in state or a leader could be sent from Centre, perceived as a reference to Parrikar.
Parrikar, the former CM of Goa before he was elevated as Defence Minister, had recently said, "let us cross the bridge when it comes".