Don't travel to Kolkata, says Goa CM citing violence in Bengal capital

Panaji, Dec 7 Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday cautioned Goans from travelling to Kolkata alleging large scale violence in the capital of the Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal.

"There are lies being told here. Our people do not travel to Delhi. And do not even try to travel to Kolkata. Do not even dare to travel to Kolkata. Do you know what happened there after the recent elections? Do we want the same kind of terror in Goa?" Sawant said at the induction ceremony of former Congress Chief Minister Ravi Naik into the BJP.

"Some people are now claiming that she (Mamata Banerjee) is greater than our Shantadurga. Have they lost it, that they are comparing her to a goddess?" Sawant said referring to a comment made by a Trinamool Congress leader Kiran Kandolkar, who drew comparisons between a Goan diety Shantadurga to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Sawant also said that hordes of persons from Kolkata are being brought into Goa as part of the election campaign for the 2022 assembly polls in the state.

"Daily, 500 people are travelling to Goa from Kolkata. They are given Rs 500 per day. They only have to convince people (to vote for the TMC). Goa has to be kept for Goans not for outsiders," Sawant said.