Panaji, February 26 Opposition legislators in Goa met Governor P Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday, requesting him to convene a special session of the assembly to discuss a controversial provision of the Town and Country Planning Act.
MLA Viresh Borkar of the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) has been protesting at Azad Maidan in Panaji for the last six days against Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act, alleging that it is being misused to convert certain land into "settlement zones", where construction activity is allowed.
On Thursday, a delegation comprising Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, AAP MLAs Venzy Viegas, Cruz Silva and others met the governor at Lok Bhavan in Dona Paula near here.
"We met the governor and told him that the matter regarding 39A should be discussed and debated, considering the emergency situation," Congress leader Alemao told reporters outside the Lok Bhavan.
The governor has summoned a 16-day budget session of the state assembly from March 6.
Alemao said that in view of the deteriorating health of Borkar, there is an urgent need to discuss the issue and the demand for scrapping section 39A of TCP, and hence they want a special assembly session to be convened.
He said that former Chief Justice (of Allahabad High Court) Ferdino Rebello has drafted a bill to save the lands of Goa by scrapping various sections of the TCP.
"We have told the governor that this bill is important when it comes to certain land conversions that are happening on a large-scale," the Congress leader said.
He claimed that despite their peaceful agitation, some people supporting the demand for scrapping the controversial TCP Act section were being threatened with legal action, which he described as "anti-democratic".
The LoP said the need of the hour is to make sure that the issue is addressed, as Borkar has been on a hunger strike for six days and could suffer from serious health issues.
"We urged the governor to resolve the issue," Alemao said.
Viegas also said they have requested the governor to call an "emergency session" over their concerns, adding that a person (Borkar) should not be allowed to die for the issue of public concern.
Goa Congress vice president Sunil Kawthankar, who was also part of the delegation, said, "Goans have fought Portuguese Salazar rule. We won't back out, even if they file the cases or fire bullets on us."