‘Printing error’ drops Gandhi Jayanti from list of Goa holidays

The Congress, which raked up the issue, termed it as a move to appease the RSS. Senior Congress leader P C Chacko said in Delhi, “Can any state government take a decision like this? This kind of decision is anti-national.” Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said no state government can do it because October 2 is a national holiday.

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Chief Minister Parsekar later told The Indian Express that he has not approved any proposal to cancel the holiday.

“The entire day, a controversy has been raging on the matter. Let me clarify, no such decision has been taken by me,” he said. When told that his government’s official gazette mentions the dates, he said, “It could be a printing mistake or a mischief by someone. Gandhi Jayanti will continue to be a public holiday.”

Goa Congress’s Durgadas Kamat said the government’s volte-face is in reaction to the outrage caused when the issue was brought to light by the Congress. “The gazette for 2015 holidays was issued in September 2014 when Manohar Parrikar was the CM of Goa. The BJP government had six months to correct it in case they thought they had made a mistake. Parsekar himself has hardcore RSS links and this is a move to keep them happy.”

The RSS refused to be drawn into the controversy but said the number of holidays should come down to improve work culture. RSS general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi said in Nagpur, “We will have to check what is the decision. But a survey has revealed that we have over 150 days of holidays in a year. We need to cut down on holidays to facilitate more work culture. And on any such occasions, we all know how people utilise them (holidays). But this all is not related to Gandhi Jayanti holiday.”