Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar doesn’t like taking care of other politician’s “children.”
Parsekar recently called out the Congress, which he said has made a “mess” of the offshore casinos situation in Goa, forcing him to deal with the issue himself.
When prodded about why the Goa government was not ordering the offshore casinos out of the Mandovi River, the chief minister said taking care of that issue is like taking care of someone else’s “children.”
“Someone had said I was compelled to marry a pregnant woman. What to do? So, naturally, I am forced to take care of her children,” Parsekar was quoted by CNBC’s Money Control saying.
Last month, Parsekar announced that operators of the state’s four offshore casinos on the river will have until March 31, 2017 to find a new waterway they can call home, but the government said the casino vessels could be relocated before the 2017 deadline, assuming they find a suitable replacement location.
“We are trying our level best to shift the casino vessels out of Mandovi. Even while giving extension by one year… We have said one year or till we find alternate place, whichever is earlier,” the chief minister said.
Parsekar’s baby remarks, however, has hurt the delicate feelings of the Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress (GPMC), which demanded the chief minister to apologize and resign within 15 days.
GPMC spokesperson Pratima Coutinho told The Indian Express that Parsekar’s statement was insensitive and lacks respect for women.
“Didn’t the CM get any other example? How can gambling business like casinos be compared to being a mother? The statement is humiliating and not fit from a person holding coveted post,” Coutinho said, according to the news outlet.
The state had already shortlisted four new locations for the casinos—River Chapora, Aguada Bay, and east and west of River Zuari—but the areas were “either not feasible for the casino operators or there was opposition from the locals.”
The government is also mulling about amending the licenses to allow land-based operations, since there is “no opposition to land casinos” in Goa.
