Due to power cuts, Goa will celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in dark: Congress

Panaji : Worshippers of Lord Ganesha in Goa will have to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, a popular Hindu festival in the coastal state, in dark due to the deteriorating power situation, Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Congress legislature party, Kavlekar said with the Power Minister still bedridden following a brain stroke some months back and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar admitted to a US hospital on account of his illness, there is no one in charge of Goa to appeal to.

"There is complete power failure in Goa. Ganesh Chaturthi is now approaching in 10 days. Before this time, the power situation should have been addressed. Now it is too late. This time Chaturthi will be in the dark. This is the first time it has happened in Goa," Kavlekar said, even as the coastal state has been plagued with repeated power cuts since April.

"Who will we go to, to complain? There is no Finance Minister, no Chief Minister. I cannot even take an appointment. Chief Minister has not given charge to anyone. We will have to come out on the street and gherao the ministers and officers concerned. Just promises will not do," Kavlekar said, a day after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was rushed to a New York-based health facility for treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.

The Congress MLA also demanded that the government or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should issue a medical bulletin, specifying the health status of Parrikar as soon as possible.

"The Chief Minister is not just of one party but of Goa. He is a Chief Minister of 15 lakh people. Everyone should know what is his health condition. What is wrong with a health bulletin? It is not a political thing," Kavlekar said.