Aam Aadmi Party's chief Arvind Kejriwal has cried foul after the party's chief ministerial candidate for the Goa Assembly elections, Elvis Gomes, was summoned by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for alleged involvement in a land conversion scam.
Gomes, 53, was questioned by the ACB in Panaji on Monday. Kejriwal has now accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of victimising Gomes, who will be contesting elections from Cuncolim in south Goa.
Kejriwal tweeted after Gomes was summoned saying, "Elvis Gomes is known all over Goa for his honesty. (He is) being victimised by the BJP government. People of Goa will give a befitting reply to the BJP."
"Goa will vote for honesty," he added.
AAP Goa CM Candidate @ielvisgomes after sham questioning by ACB of BJP's Goa Govt. pic.twitter.com/zIT4PY11I5
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) December 26, 2016
Outside the ACB office in Panaji, AAP workers held placards and raised slogans asking the public to choose between honest Gomes and BJP Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
The land conversion scam involves recategorising orchards to settlements. Gomes, a former managing director of Goa Housing Board, and former chairman Nilkant Halarnkar were summoned for their alleged involvement in the scam. The board reportedly acquired about 30,000 sq m of land near Margao and changed the zoning to residential and returned it to the owners in 2011, according to the ACB FIR. Changing the category of the land would increase its market value.
Gomes has called the timing of the accusation suspect, since he was named the AAP CM candidate only a week back. He has denied involvement in the scam.
