Panaji: Outrightly refuting the claim made by Pooja Naik that she was working in his office, Power Minister and senior Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) leader Ramakrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar on Friday said the finance department records could be verified for his staff list.
“She was not working in my office. All of my staff is being paid by the finance department. The salaries of my staff are being disbursed in their bank accounts through the accounts department,” Dhavalikar said.
Pooja Naik is one of the accused in the cash-for-jobs scam.
The minister said the people of Goa know him and his family very well, and he has never been involved in any wrongdoing. “Let the crime branch complete its probe in the next eight days. Then I will make my detailed statement on the issue,” he said.
Hours after the fresh allegations made by Naik, the MGP raised doubt about the involvement of some people to target the party and its senior leader.
A meeting of the MGP central committee was held in Panaji where a resolution was adopted demanding a thorough investigation into the allegations made by Naik.
The party has urged police to find out the “mastermind” behind Pooja Naik.
President of MGP Pandurang ‘Deepak’ Dhavalikar denied the claim of Naik that she was working in the party office.
“She never worked in the MGP office. She appears to be disturbed and she is being used by someone to defame our party and the minister,” he said.
The MGP chief said the crime branch should investigate the case thoroughly, and the party will wait till the probe report is ready. “We have adopted a resolution at the central committee meeting demanding a thorough investigation. The resolution has been submitted to the crime branch. Our 3-4 staff members were also called by the crime branch to verify the facts,” he said.
The MGP chief further said that his party and the minister are innocent and not connected to the matter. “We were not in the government from 2019 to 2022, the period she has mentioned. It appears that someone is giving her a script and using her against the MGP. I hope the facts will come out once the probe by the crime branch is over in the next eight days,” he said.
Addressing the media on Friday, the central committee members of MGP said there is a “mastermind” behind this to defame the party and its leader. Condemning the statements made by Naik, they demanded that the crime branch find out the “mastermind”.
