BOOM-BOOM BABU

Sports Minister whacks Parrikar’s bouncer


BY A GT REPORTER

PANJIM: It’s not often that Assembly proceedings are packed with fire-works, but yesterday was one of those rare days in the Goa Assembly when Sports Minister Babu Azgaonkar verbally clashed with Opposition Leader, Manohar Parrikar.
As if to say ‘enough-is-enough’, Azgaonkar, who’s been at the receiving end for two days on the controversial ‘Sports City’ project, lashed out at Parrikar and accused him of being the pot that’s calling the kettle black.
Azgaonkar said Parrikar, who against popular sentiments had bulldozed his pet project of hosting the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panjim, was now accusing him of side stepping opposition to the ‘Sports City’.
Azgaonkar also lashed out at Parrikar for his earlier laced comments that suggested he (Azgaonkar) was blinded by the Rs 550-crore the Centre had promised for the project. “Was it the same case with IFFI?” Azgaonkar asked aloud.
Earlier, Parrikar while narrating a fable of the dhobi getting his reluctant donkey to work by dangling carrots before it, had said, “Carrots are dangling in front of him (Minister)”, while referring to the sports city.
To this, Azgaonkar shot back: “Were the same type of carrots dangling before him for IFFI?”
The clash occurred when Parrikar, in his inimitable style poured out his wry sarcasm-filled barbs and generally directed them towards Azgaonkar during the discussion on the Demands for Grants pertaining to sports.
Parrikar urged the minister not to take a confrontationist approach, but compromise with aggrieved villagers.
He also suggested that the government first tender the project to see the response and test the project’s commercial viability.
In typical sarcasm, he then went on to narrate the dhobi-donkey fable, and charged that the minister’s eyes were on the carrots (Rs 550 crore) to be allocated by the Centre.

Azgaonkar in his reply demanded to know whether such carrots dangled before Parrikar when the latter bull-dozed the IFFI event in 2004 riding rough-shod over all opposition to it, across the state.
Though Parrikar was not present in the House, Azgaonkar jabbed him with a ‘carrots were dangling before him when he organised IFFI’ comment, sending the House into peels of laughter.