Congress, Goa Forward Party say event management tender rigged to favour agency with ties to BJP

PANAJI: The Congress party and Goa Forward Party (GFP) alleged that the government has rigged the tender for the event management agency for the Purple Fest.
The two parties pointed out that one firm has already started work on the decor even though the government has yet to evaluate bids of the agencies that have shown interest.
The Congress party released a video of the outdoor decor being set up at the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) complex. In the video, a man is heard saying that the work is for the "Purple Fest -2023" which is being organised by the Social Welfare Department. As per the tender document, the Department of Information and Publicity is supposed to evaluate the various bids on Monday.
“We will officially write to the chief secretary and urge him to take serious cognizance of the loot of the state treasury. We demand that chief secretary Puneet Kumar Goel must scrap the tender process. If he does not act, we will explore other options as well,” said the Congress party’s media cell in charge Amarnath Panjikar.
The congress party has also urged the Goa State Commission for Persons with Disabilities to take serious note of the allegations. The Congress party claimed that the contract, which is yet to be officially awarded, is worth Rs 6 to 7 crores. Once the work order is issued, the selected agency will have to provide all the required infrastructure and handle logistics for Purple Fest which will be held from January 6 to January 8 at ESG Complex.
Panjikar claimed that Pramod Sawant government has rigged the contract for the event management agency to favour the “BJP's in-house agency”.
“First scam of 2023? Tender rigged for Purple Fest. How come even before the tender is opened, work has been executed by the son in law of the BJP government? Chief minister Pramod Sawant should act immediately,” said GFP’s general secretary Durgadas Kamat.
The Congress used the episode to once again taunt the state government, accusing ESG chairman Subhash Faldessai of “mission commission” at the cost of Persons with Disabilities.