Goa Assembly Speaker: Ex-minister Velip's allegations 'baseless', will summon him to house

The Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Friday, called the allegations put by former state minister Prakash Velip 'baseless', adding that he will be summoning the minister to the House for the same. 

 

During the ongoing Budget session, the speaker told the House that there was a media statement by Velip made against him. Earlier, Velip had made serious allegations against Tawadkar concerning tribal affairs. Both the leaders belong to the tribal community. 

 

The Speaker said he would seek Velip’s explanation for his conduct. He also warned of action against the media houses that carried Velip’s allegations.

 

“The allegations levelled against me are baseless and they were made when the Assembly was in session when I enjoyed special powers being the speaker. There are special privileges to the speaker and his (Velip’s) statements amount to the insult of the position,” Tawadkar said.

 

Velip represented the Quepem assembly constituency in South Goa from 1989 to 2002 when he was a member of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party. He has now joined the BJP.