Mumbai, July 2 (DB): The six Goa MLAs, including two ministers, who were explicitly requested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel their World Cup junket, have gone ahead with their trip to Brazil at the expense of the taxpayers money.
As per the reports in Mumbai Mirror, the six MLAs despite huge public outcry and a diktat from PM Narendra Modi, went ahead with their Brazil trip to watch the quarterfinals and semifinals.
The defiant MLAs boarded an Emirates flight from Mumbai at 4.30 am today, en route Sao Paolo, from where they will travel to Rio de Janeiro to catch the quarterfinal between Germany and France. The six MLAs flew to Mumbai by an Air India flight on Tuesday night and were to board the Emirates flight EK 501 to Dubai, from where they will take Emirates flight EK 261 to Sau Paulo.
The delegation of six members comprises of Goa power minister Milind Naik, fisheries minister Avertano Furtado and MLAs Benjamin Silva, Glen Ticlo, Michael Lobo and Carlos Almeida.
The tickets for the flights were booked Marine Drive-based Avesta Tours and Travels. Sources revealed the Sports Authority of Goa paid Rs. 89 lakh towards the air tickets and accommodation through a real time gross settlement (RTGS) transfer. The Goa government had said the trip was cancelled after the matter was highlighted by the media and the MLAs and the BJP state government faced flak for splurging taxpayers' money.
As per the reports in Mumbai Mirror, the delegation will watch the marquee clash between Germany and France at the historic Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on July 4, before moving to Fortaleza where hosts Brazil take on Colombia on July 5.
The six will also watch the two semifinals on July 8 and July 9 at Estadio Mineirao (Belo Horizonte) and Arena Corinthians (Sao Paulo) respectively. Though the sports minister or bureaucrats of the sports ministry are not a part of this six member delegation.