Cong seeks apology from Goa CM on his Ganesh festival remarks

While the opposition party sought an apology from Sawant for "hurting the religious sentiments", the ruling BJP hit back saying that the grand old party was trying to use the issue for its political gains. Sawant, while addressing a gathering in his Assembly constituency of Sankhalim on Saturday, had claimed that the spike in COVID-19 cases was mainly due to people violating social distancing norms and not using mask during the Ganesh festival.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's statement attributing the rise in COVID-19 cases in the state to people not following social distancing norms during the ongoing Ganesh festival drew flak from the Congress on Sunday. While the opposition party sought an apology from Sawant for "hurting the religious sentiments", the ruling BJP hit back saying that the grand old party was trying to use the issue for its political gains.

Sawant, while addressing a gathering in his Assembly constituency of Sankhalim on Saturday, had claimed that the spike in COVID-19 cases was mainly due to people violating social distancing norms and not using mask during the Ganesh festival. Congress's Goa unit spokesperson Amarnath Panjikar said, "It is most unfortunate that the CM is blaming the devotees of Lord Ganesh for spreading coronavirus in Goa by participating in the celebrations. He must apologize to them for hurting their religious sentiments." He alleged that chief minister and the ruling party did nothing to curb the spread of coronavirus.

However, state BJP spokesperson Dattaprasad Naik defended the chief minister saying, "Sawant has not said anything for which he should apologize. He only underlined the need to follow social distancing norms and use face-masks." "Congress is trying to use the issue for its political gains," he said.