BJP holds Congress responsible for Goa's mining sector crisis

PANAJI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today of supporting the cause of Goa mining only after the Centre realised that the ban on exports led to the fall of the rupee.

"Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram realised that the economy of the country is in doldrums. It is time that the Finance Minister realised that exports have stopped," BJP Goa General Secretary Narendra Sawaikar told reporters at the BJP state headquarters here today.

He alleged that the Congress party was responsible for the Goa mining sector crisis.

"If the Congress had realised what they were doing, the issue could have been properly presented before the Supreme Court and by now the ban would have been lifted," Sawaikar said.

The BJP leader said that Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jayanti Natarajan had cancelled the environmental clearances in a hurry after the Justice M B Shah Commission tabled its report on illegal mining in Parliament, which further precipitated the crisis, he alleged.

The BJP expressed hopes that the Supreme Court would lift the ban by next month and mining would resume.