Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders welcomed Chief Minister Pramod Sawant threat to file a defamation suit against the party leaders, labeling it as yet another a desperate attempt to silence the opposition.
Addressing a press conference at the AAP office in Panaji, AAP Working President Valmiki Naik, along with General Secretary (Campaign and Communication) Francis Coelho, and Youth Wing leaders Rohan Naik and Salman Khan, highlighted CM Sawant’s fear of being exposed and his continuous attempts to deflect attention from the job scam deeply rooted in the BJP.
AAP Working President Valmiki Naik stated, “The Chief Minister is scared because the job scam investigation goes deep within the BJP party and involves close associates of the CM. His defamation threat is a tactic to suppress voices demanding justice.”
Naik questioned the grounds for the defamation case, pointing out that AAP’s statements merely echoed former Goa Governor Satyapal Malik, who accused the Goa government of corruption.
“If Malik’s statements were not defamatory, why is CM Sawant targeting AAP?” he asked.
Naik emphasised that this isn’t the first time the CM has tried to suppress the issue of the job scam. He pointed out that a pattern of inaction and deflection has been evident since the scandal first came to light. He explained how the scam came to public attention with the arrest of Puja Naik.
Notably, it later emerged that she had been at the CM’s residence just a week before the arrest, yet no immediate action was taken by the CM. It was only after a victim filed a complaint that the police arrested her. Naik mocked the CM’s claim that he directed the arrest, questioning why he waited a week before doing so.
Following the arrest, numerous complaints surfaced, revealing deeper links between the culprits and the BJP.
Once names of party bearers emerged, BJP leaders quickly distanced themselves from those implicated. Naik stated that the CM’s statements about attaching the culprits’ properties were a thinly veiled threat to silence them and prevent them from naming higher-ups in the BJP.
He further criticised BJP Minister Babush Monseratte’s suggestion to file FIRs against victims who had attempted to pay bribes, describing it as an attempt to intimidate whistleblowers.
Naik further added that the CM’s recent threat of a defamation suit against opposition leaders is yet another tactic to avoid holding a judicial enquiry.
Francis Coelho criticised the CM for wasting time on a defamation suit instead of addressing Goa’s unemployment crisis.
“AAP has faced CBI, ED, and countless intimidations before. We are not scared. Instead of filing a case, CM should focus on creating jobs and finding the true culprits behind the scam,” said Coelho.
He further pointed to the state’s dire unemployment situation, citing 9,000 applicants for 143 low-paying Home Guard posts as evidence of desperation among youth.
AAP State Youth Wing President Rohan Naik dismissed BJP’s accusations of dirty politics.
“It is BJP, not AAP, playing dirty politics by shielding corrupt leaders and making them ministers,” he said. AAP State Youth Wing Vice President Salman Khan said, “From Bhagat Singh to Mahatma Gandhi, leaders were jailed to suppress justice. BJP is doing the same to harass AAP leaders, but we will not back down”.
