National Games kept on hold as Goa state government cites upcoming polls

The exit of two Congress MLA who ended up joining the BJP, meant the state had to fill the two seats with bye-elections for Shiroda and Mandrem expected to be held in March 2019. The letter elaborates that “processes towards organising the Games are underway, and in some cases, tenders have also been floated for the various services including hospitality and transport, the letter goes on to add that the National Games Organising Committee is also preparing for having the launch event at the end of January”.

“Needless to say the entire state machinery will be involved in the conduct of elections. Since the proposed dates for National Games coincide with this Election Period, this will definitely have an impact on the conduct of the Game…Further, as you may be aware that while the MCC is in force, apart from the ban on organising any public functions, no new works can be taken up and procurements of goods and services are also prohibited,” the letter, which is in possession of The Indian express, read.

In order to resolve this issue, the local government has now invited officials from New Delhi to tackle the situation in Goa and also look for solutions to the problem at hand. However, Goan state officials have given themselves a deadline of March 15, 2019, for all the infrastructure developments to be completed for the upcoming games.