Panaji, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said that after immense pressure from freedom fighters, the then central government launched 'Operation Vijay' and Goa was freed from Portuguese rule in 1961.
Sawant said on the occasion of Goa Revolution Day, if the state had become independent when the country became independent, the pace of its development would have been much faster.
Goa Revolution Day is celebrated on 18 June to commemorate a public meeting held in Margao in 1946, during which freedom fighter Ram Manohar Lohia called for liberation.
Sawant was addressing a gathering after paying floral tributes at the Martyrs Memorial at Azad Maidan here in the presence of Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai, Union Minister of State for Energy Shripad Naik, freedom fighters and others.
The Chief Minister said that the coastal state got independence 14 years after India's independence.
He said, "India got independence from British rule but Goa remained under Portuguese rule for the next 14 years. If we had become independent with India, the pace of development would have been much faster."
Sawant said Goa missed the first three Finance Commissions, which led to lack of development in the state in the initial years.
He said, "It was only after immense pressure from the freedom fighters that the then central government resorted to Operation Vijay."
Referring to the BJP-led rule at the Center and the state, the CM said, there has been massive human and infrastructure development in Goa in the last 10 years after the double engine government came to power.
Sawant said on the occasion of Goa Revolution Day, if the state had become independent when the country became independent, the pace of its development would have been much faster.
Goa Revolution Day is celebrated on 18 June to commemorate a public meeting held in Margao in 1946, during which freedom fighter Ram Manohar Lohia called for liberation.
Sawant was addressing a gathering after paying floral tributes at the Martyrs Memorial at Azad Maidan here in the presence of Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai, Union Minister of State for Energy Shripad Naik, freedom fighters and others.
The Chief Minister said that the coastal state got independence 14 years after India's independence.
He said, "India got independence from British rule but Goa remained under Portuguese rule for the next 14 years. If we had become independent with India, the pace of development would have been much faster."
Sawant said Goa missed the first three Finance Commissions, which led to lack of development in the state in the initial years.
He said, "It was only after immense pressure from the freedom fighters that the then central government resorted to Operation Vijay."
Referring to the BJP-led rule at the Center and the state, the CM said, there has been massive human and infrastructure development in Goa in the last 10 years after the double engine government came to power.
