MAPUSA
Mopa airport should have been named after former chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar but since it was an international airport and funded by the Central government, only the Prime Minister could decide on its name, said former minister & Calangute MLA Michael Lobo, suggesting that the State government had no locus standi in christening the airport.
Lobo, on Sunday, also said that future projects taken up by the State government can be named after the late Bhausaheb Bandodkar.
“Mopa airport was not a State government-sponsored project. It is an international airport and only Prime Minister Narendra Modi could decide on what name will be given to the airport. Nobody can influence him. Our chief minister could not say that this airport should be named after the first CM of Goa. The Prime Minister decided to name it after another good leader late Manohar Parrikar who also followed the footsteps of the late Bhausaheb Bandodkar,” Lobo said.
The Calangute MLA was addressing a gathering after paying homage to Goa's first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar on his 110th birth anniversary celebration in Calangute.
Candolim sarpanch Fermino Fernandes, Arpora-Nagao sarpanch Roshan Redkar, panchayat members and citizens were present on the occasion.
Calangute sarpanch Joseph Sequeira was conspicuous in his absence at the event.
Lobo said that the late Dayanand Bandokar created a revolution in the field of education the fruits of which were being enjoyed by all the people in the State.
“His vision was to ensure that the poorest of the poor should be educated. If our State is 100 per cent literate today, it’s because of the foundation laid by our first chief minister. Goa has developed in leaps and bounds only because of the visionary decisions taken by Bandodkar,” he said.
He said the youth of today should take a leaf out of the life of the late Bandodkar and emulate him.
Earlier, Congress leader Rajan Korgaonkar took the opportunity to slam the government for failing to name the Mopa airport after the first chief minister of Goa.
“We had passed a resolution to name the Mopa airport after our visionary leader and former Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar, but this government cheated us. I condemn the Pramod Sawant government,” Korgaonkar said, causing a little discomfort amongst those present at the event.
Candolim sarpanch Fermino Fernandes, Arpora-Nagao sarpanch Roshan Redkar, ZP Dattaprasad Dabholkar, Eknath Nagvenkar also spoke.
