Goa Congress sidesteps Kamat’s Modi ‘best friend’ remark

PANAJI - Goa state Congress president Subhash Shirodkar Friday said it was up to the Congress high command to act against Chief Minister Digambar Kamat who called Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi his “best friend” at a press conference.

Speaking to IANS Friday, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Shirodkar first laughed when asked to formally react to Kamat’s public admission of friendship with Modi Thursday. “You only ask him (Kamat) about it. What can I say?” Shirodkar said.

Asked if the state Congress is considering any action against Kamat for his statement, Shirodkar said: “It is up to the Congress high command to act. They will have to ask him.”

Kamat Thursday called Narendra Modi “my best friend” while reacting to a question from the media during a press conference at his official residence.

“If they (Gujarat government) have invited, I will go. Modi is my best friend,” Kamat said when asked if he would be visiting Gujarat for the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state’s golden jubilee celebrations to be held on May 1.

Kamat had also said that Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Modi were amongst his best pals.

“When I am in Delhi for any conference, I have Sheila Dikshit on my one side and Narendra Modi on the other,” Kamat, who was formerly a BJP minister in a BJP-led coalition government in Goa, said. Modi has been accused of lending tacit support to the Gujarat 2002 riots and has been questioned by an apex court-appointed panel on his alleged role in the carnage.

Gujarat celebrates its golden jubilee May 1.