Panaji: Days after the legislative assembly ’s monsoon session ended, differences within BJP govt exploded out into the open, with ministers from the Pramod Sawant cabinet crossing swords over the withdrawal of some controversial bills , as well as the decision to send some to a select committee for review. The differences began brewing eight days ago, when town and country planning minister Vishwajit Rane withdrew the Goa Town and Country Planning (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2024. The bill, which was introduced in the assembly, aimed “to protect the TCP against judicial scrutiny of land conversions under the ODPs and take powers of planning and development authorities (PDAs) in case the ODPs are withdrawn”.
Explaining the withdrawal, Rane said, “I want to clarify that I did not insert a validation clause in the bill. The validation clause was a suggestion of the law department , not of my department. Because of this, there is a sentiment among the people that we are running govt in the form of a dictatorship”.
Then, tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte hit out at the law department over the bills. “Today, we need a total turnaround in our law department, which needs to understand the sanctity of placing a bill in the House,” he said. Referring to Aldona MLA Carlos Alvares Ferreira, Khaunte said, “There is one advocate in the House, and he asks questions like he’s fighting a case in court.
During the discussion, I told him (Ferreira) that he is a senior advoc.