Goan MPs to meet Amit Shah in bid to continue operations

PANAJI: Two days before mining in Goa comes to a halt pursuant to a Supreme Court order, three Goan parliamentarians will meet BJP national president and Rajya Sabha MP Amit Shah to request him to continue mining operations in the state.
State BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar, Ayush minister Shripad Naik, and Lok Sabha MP Narendra Sawaikar will meet Shah at 11am on Tuesday. Tendulkar said that mining is very important for the state’s economy and also for people whose livelihood is dependent on the industry.

“We will meet Shah as a party,” Tendulkar said. He said that they would discuss all possible options on resolving the state’s mining issues. Tendulkar said that the trio would appeal to Shah to request the central government to intervene and allow mining to continue in Goa.

Sources said that the three BJP MPs are meeting Shah in view of criticism from party workers and MLAs that the party failed to find a solution in the last one month since the Supreme Court order, sources said.

Last week, the all-party delegation that travelled to Delhi didn’t get a positive reception from the Union ministers concerned. The delegation had suggested an ordinance to the Goa, Daman and Diu Mining Concession (Abolition and Declaration as Mining Leases) Act, 1987. Union coal minister Piyush Goyal told the delegation that the state’s mining leases would have to be auctioned, else the matter would snowball into another Coalgate.

We will appeal to Amit Shah to request the central govt to intervene and allow mining to continue in the state. We will discuss all possible options on resolving the mining issues