A recent decision by the Goa CM Pramod Sawant to send police forces to other states to investigate certain “derogatory” videos circulating on social media is not going down well with the opposition leaders in Goa. On Tuesday, leaders like Vijai Sardesai and Amit Palekar took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to express their outrage over the CM’s actions. They argued that it reflects a worrying misallocation of state resources at a time when Goa faces much more pressing issues like the state’s escalating debt, and deteriorating law & order situation.
In recent months, some social media posts aimed at defaming the Goa government were circulated on some messaging apps. During preliminary investigations, it was found that they were pumped in by a group of people sitting outside the state. Further investigations revealed that they were being circulated from Haryana. As a result, Sawant ordered Goa police to dispatch several teams of cops to Haryana and investigate the case. However, opposition leaders find this decision to be a grave misuse of public resources.
Vijai Sardesai, president of the Goa Forward Party, was among the first to voice his concerns. In a series of posts, Sardesai questioned why the government was spending taxpayer money on what he described as a politically motivated investigation. “Instead of fixing the mess in our state, our CM is busy chasing shadows in other states,” Sardesai said.
Amit Palekar, the AAP Goa president, echoed Sardesai’s sentiments. He questioned the need for investigating social media posts, suggesting that the government’s actions were more about silencing dissent than protecting the state’s reputation. “Goa cops have more important jobs to do than investigate social media posts and silence freedom of speech,” Palekar added.
