The ruling and opposition benches today sparred in the Goa Legislative Assembly over the Defence Ministry's proposal to hold the DefExpo in the state in March.
Independent MLA Vijai Sardessai raised the issue through a calling-attention motion and said the BJP-led state government's decision to allot 150 acres of land at Quittol in south Goa for the DefExpo was nothing but a land grab by the Defence Ministry.
The Defence Ministry had also proposed Aero Show at the same location next year, and it will necessitate acquisition of six lakh square metres of land on a permanent basis to construct facilities such as a 10,000-ft long runway, he said.
The Defence Ministry had already "grabbed" a lot of land in Goa, which the then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar himself had told the Goa Assembly in the past, he said, adding that "once you give land to the Defence Ministry you will have to forget about it."
State Industries Minister Mahadev Naik said in reply that Goa government had already committed to host the DefExpo. Currently the DefExpo is held on a temporary basis but the decision on allowing it on a permanent basis (in Goa) can be taken later, he said.
DefExpo will go on only for four days and the structures put up for it would be dismantled later, he said.
Naik also argued that as it will attract as many as 1.5 lakh visitors, half of them from outside the country, it will also help the economy of the state. "Thousands of hotel rooms in star hotels would be required," he said.
Intervening in the debate, Chief Minister Laxmikant
Parsekar read out Defence Ministry's letter to the Goa chief secretary R K Srivastava which said that this year's event will be of temporary nature.
But Sardesai and other opposition MLAs were not satisfied and sought assurance that there will be no land acquisition.
Leader of Opposition Pratapsingh Rane (Congress) pointed out that the land where DefExpo is proposed was originally acquired for an industrial estate.
Local Congress MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar also expressed apprehensions on the issue.
BJP's Siddharth Kuncalienkar drew a sharp reaction from opposition when he said that Quittol should be declared as the permanent venue for the DefExpo.
Speaker Anant Shet finally closed the heated debate by calling for the next item on the agenda.
