Canacona/Ponda: Canacona MLA and tribal welfare minister Ramesh Tawadkar accused activist Rama Kankonkar of colluding with the opposition and making baseless allegations, and demanded that he apologise to the United Tribal Associations Alliance (UTAA) and Goa’s tribal community. Tawadkar said Kankonkar falsely claimed that Tawadkar and former South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar were the “masterminds” behind the deaths of tribal youths Mangesh Gaonkar and Deelip Velip during the 2011 Balli agitation.Referring to the protest organised by UTAA, Tawadkar said he joined as an activist and as president of Adarsh Yuva Sangh. He said UTAA, led by Prakash Velip, launched the agitation for tribal rights through a 12-point charter of demands, and that the movement intensified after the then Congress govt allegedly failed to cooperate.
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He said UTAA was formed in 2004 and that neither he nor Sawaikar was part of it then.Sawaikar filed a complaint at Ponda police station, alleging Kankonkar called him a “murderer” and “conspirator” at a Panaji public gathering and amplified it on social media. He said he was unconditionally acquitted by the South Goa district court in the Balli case and accused Kankonkar of concealing that fact ahead of elections. Sawaikar sought an FIR under provisions of the BNS and the IT Act, 2000. No FIR was registered till late Saturday.
