The Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant, has been accused of making controversial remarks during a Labor Day speech. A complaint was filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Patna by Manish Kumar Singh, a local leader of the ruling JD(U), who objected to Sawant’s comments in which he claimed that “90% of the crimes in Goa were committed by migrant laborers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.” The JD(U) demanded an apology from Sawant for his alleged blame of laborers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for most crimes in the coastal state.
The Goa government issues labor cards to those working in the private, unorganized, and industrial sectors, which keeps a record of their employment and extends welfare measures to them. Sawant emphasized the need to track the details of laborers because after committing a crime in Goa, migrant laborers often return to their state, making it difficult to locate them. The complaint is expected to be taken up for hearing in due course.
The JD(U)’s Bihar unit president, Umesh Singh Kushwaha, claimed that the BJP, to which Sawant belongs, has always disrespected Hindi-speaking people. He also alleged that the Narendra Modi government at the center would be punished in the next year’s Lok Sabha polls for its “silence” over the issue. Statements lambasting the Goa CM have also been issued by the RJD, the Congress, and the CPI(M), all constituents of the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ or Grand Alliance in Bihar.
State BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand responded to the accusations by squarely blaming Nitish Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad, and the Mahagathbandhan government for “Bihar’s image problem.” Meanwhile, CM Sawant clarified that his statement was twisted by some political leaders and expressed regret if his comments upset any person.
He also stated that on International Labour Day, he spoke in Konkani about the necessity of labor cards to detect crimes if they were committed by laborers, and that they honored laborers from various states on Labour Day.
