Govt dragging its feet on mining scam makes Goa BJP anxious

Panaji, June 27 (IANS) The BJP government's inability to expeditiously prosecute former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat and other persons involved in the Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining scam is making the state party unit anxious.

"We are anxious that the investigations are going on forever. The investigation should be done as soon as possible and the case chargesheeted," Bharatiya Janata Party's state vice president Wilfred Mesquita said Friday.

He was responding to a question related to the inability of the BJP-led coalition government to bring those responsible for the mammoth mining scam to book.

While the BJP was vociferous in its campaign against illegal mining when in the Opposition, the party which rode to power in 2012 has been accused by the Congress and anti-mining activists of siding with the illegal mining lobby.

The Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining scam was unearthed by the Justice M.B. Shah Commission and former chief minister and Congress leader Kamat as well as several bureaucrats and mining magnates were indicted for their involvement in the scam.