CM Parsekar denies October 2 off Goa list of holidays

A controversy erupted over the scrapping by the Goa government of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 from the list of public holidays but chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar later said it could be an act of “mischief” or a “typing mistake”.

Gandhi Jayanti, the birth anniversary of the father of the nation, was not marked as a holiday in the current year’s calendar, released on Saturday, triggering a strong reaction, with the Congress terming it as an “anti-national” act.

Interestingly, Gandhi Jayanti disappeared from the list of commercial and industrial holidays released on a day when the Mahatma’s statue was unveiled in London.

Strongly opposing the BJP-ruled state’s decision, senior Congress leader P.C. Chacko said, “The BJP’s mindset is a very sick mindset... Can any state government take a decision like this This kind of decision they have taken is anti-national.”

He said the Central government “should immediately direct the state government to correct this. I am still in shock after hearing about this. No government in India has the right to do that. This is a very senseless decision which they have taken.”

His party colleague and Congress spokesman Anand Sharma also said no state government can do it because it is a national holiday. “They can’t do it. Gandhi is the father of nation. Even last year children were asked to go to school on October 2,” Mr Sharma said. The RSS refused to be drawn into the controversy.