Goa Guv trumps CM, in war of words over Covid-19 management

Panaji, July 18 (IANS) Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik appears to have come up trumps in the ongoing tussle with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, which began on Thursday, when the latter had said that Malik had expressed displeasure with media criticism of the state government’s Covid-19 management efforts.

Sawant’s comments had triggered a controversy, after the Governor slammed the Chief Minister for allegedly “putting words in his mouth” and had also critiqued the BJP-led coalition government’s approach towards containing the pandemic.

On Saturday, in a statement, a Goa Raj Bhavan spokesperson said that Sawant in a meeting with Malik on Friday, had assured the Governor of acting on the latter’s suggestions.

“Yesterday, the Chief Minister met the Governor at Raj Bhavan and discussed a whole range of issues pertaining to Covid-19 management in the state. The Governor extended his full support to the government in its fight against the pandemic,” the statement issued by Raj Bhavan said.

“The Chief Minister assured that the observations and suggestions of the Governor would be acted upon by the government in the right earnest. The Governor and Chief Minister pledged to continue to work in full co-operation and synergy in order to win the battle against the contagion and in the interest of the state,” the statement also said.

The Opposition had demanded Sawant’s resignation, accusing him of misleading the people of the state as well as lying to the Governor, in order to cover-up shoddiness on part of the state administration to rein in Covid-19.

The state has seen a swift spike in the number of Covid-19 cases, with the total tally of active cases shooting to 1337, including 21 fatalities.

Malik on Thursday, had not only faulted the state government for delaying the imposition of a lockdown in and around the state’s first containment zone at Mangor hill, which has accounted for a bulk of the Covid-19 cases and had also slammed the state Health Ministry for callously attributing comorbidity as the key reasons for a majority of the deaths linked to the deadly virus.

–IANS

maya/rs/