Casinos are now ‘fait accompli’ of Goa government.
This was stressed by former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar as he surprised lawmakers over his sudden major reversal of stand at the height of a legislative debate on the fate of casinos in the Indian state of Goa.
It would be recalled that Parrikar and his group, in the run up to the 2012 state assembly election, had opposed casinos in 2007. Parrikar’s group also promised to rid the Mandovi, one of the two main rivers in Goa that flows along Panaji, of the offshore casinos which are berthed in it.
But during his address to a group of core party workers in Panaji on Saturday, Parrikar pointed out that the casino industry cannot be disturbed as they are the “fait accompli” of the BJP-led state government. By definition of fait accompli, the government could no longer overturn the decision of the state government to grant six licenses to casinos
“We had opposed casinos in the year 2007, but Congress gave six licences and made casinos fait accompli of the government that we formed in the year 2012,” Parrikar said in the presence of Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, according to Indian Express. “When someone invests in the business and if we stop the business then investment don’t come,” he said referring to the investment in casinos.
He explained that some things that are unacceptable at particular time, becomes acceptable with the time.
“In 1997, we were opposing Tata Estate (vehicle planned to be purchased for ministers). But now we don’t oppose even Innova…the situations do change,” he said.
Goa is one of the three states—Sikkim and Daman were the other two states—that allow live casinos to operate within its borders. The coastal state currently plays host to 11 land-based gaming venues and five floating casinos.
In August, the state government hiked—for the third year in a row—the licenses fees for land-based casinos. Casinos occupying up to 100 square meters are now required to pay over USD500,000 every year, while those occupying between 500 to 700 square meters must pay close to USD 1 million in license fees.
Last week, Luizinho Faleiro, president of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, called for an opinion poll to review the state government’s decision to allow casinos in the small state.
