Did ex-CM Rane fake papers to push for Goa's statehood?

December 20, 2013 11:02

A retired senior bureaucrat has alleged former Goa chief minister Pratapsingh Rane used "fake documents" to push for statehood to the then Union territory way back in 1987, a charged rubbished by the latter.

The then chief minister (Rane) accessed certain documents using his men in the statistics department and furnished them to demand statehood for Goa, former chief secretary J C Almeida alleged in an interview to a television channel.

Almeida did not clarify nature of the documents, but claimed they contained fake statistics related to finances.

Rane, however, quickly rubbished the allegation and questioned its timing. "Why is Almeida speaking up after so many years?" the veteran Congress leader sought to know.

Almeida, the first Goan chief secretary, yesterday said Rane had provided "fake and unrealistic documents" to the then Rajiv Gandhi government.

The retired IAS officer's comments came at a time when Goa celebrated its Liberation Day yesterday. He claimed there was undue hurry by the then government to attain statehood.

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