Panaji: Aldona Congress MLA Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira on monday lambasted the Union government and the ruling BJP for deceiving and cheating the people of Goa, Daman and Diu in the name of resolving the issue of grant of OCI cards based on passport revocation letters pointing out how the government and the party suppressed a ‘corrigendum’ that was issued by the Ministry of External Affairs both from the people of Goa as well as the Bombay High Court at Goa, thus misleading both the people as well as the court that the issue was resolved. Addressing a press conference, Adv Ferreira pointed out that the corrigendum was issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on April 30, which, in effect, rendered the previous office memorandum invalid and mandated that a surrender certificate could no longer be used as a valid document to claim OCI citizenship. “BJP is a party of lies. Is a party of deceit. They will show you anything just to win your mind and at the end they will cheat you and finish you. This is what they have exactly done,” Adv Carlos said referring to the campaign speeches made by the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant especially in Benaulim, Salcete heartland where he claimed that he and the Prime Minister had resolved the issue to the satisfaction of Goans. “I think the Goa Chief Minister, was blatantly telling lies, telling lies knowing he was telling lies and specially at the fag end, when election was at the peak going into the polls. This shows in black and white, how the BJP can deceive you, how the BJP can fool you, how they can make all these jumlas and think they win an election,” he added. “Either they have realised that the mood is not with them, or they have realised that we have given this to fool the people without ever wanting to give it. This is now the challenge for the BJP on how they will resolve this issue, now that they have reneged on their promise,” he said. He added that the Government of India and the Assistant Solicitor General committed contempt of court by not placing the corrigendum document before the Bombay High Court at Goa which prompted the High Court to dispose of a petition filed as per the office memorandum issued in April. “It was your duty to tell the court that this corrigendum was there. You can’t mislead the High Court. This is very very serious. It is contempt of court. To have brought misleading documents before the court and not told the truth. Especially when it comes from high ranking officers, we expect the truth before the courts. The Government of India has committed contempt in not even disclosing this corrigendum,” he said. “The petitioners will now have to move the court again for vindicating their stand, re agitating their stand,” he said. The Corrigendum was issued on April 30, and the High Court passed an order on May 6, but no effort was made to point out to the High Court that the earlier office memorandum was modified via a corrigendum.The High Court on May 6 passed an order directing the authorities to dispose of the petitioner’s applications as per the office memorandum oblivious that a corrigendum had subsequently been issued. “You know that people were upset with the BJP in every nook and corner of Goa. So they tried this as a last ditch attempt to win votes. They tried every trick in the book to win, even with money, but I think people knew. Let us see how the result comes,” he added.
