‘North Indians trying to create Haryana in Goa’

Domestic tourists scum of earth: Goa mantri

than people who are coming in. Those people, how you will control (them)? Can you control them?”

“We could control them at one point in time. But we jumped the Russians… We decided to put all eggs in one basket. The British have gone away. And, now we are dependent upon the north Indians and this is what they do. They are not bothered about Goa. They want to recreate Haryana in Goa,” he added.

Sardesai, however, told the media that his remarks were in reaction to a bureaucrat who spoke right before him and referred to increased garbage.

“Also, look those who come from Delhi, Haryana and Gurgaon, they have a tendency, they want to gobble everything. We In Goa have a certain way of living. Fifty years ago, we fought a battle and refused to merge with Maharashtra. Now we are fighting another kind of battle where these FSI people are coming and affecting our ethos. Why cannot they stay in hotels? They come and buy plots here and keep building,” Sardesai said.

Sardesai’s vision of tourism reeks of sheer elitism as he goes on to explain his idea of model tourism, where the rich visit Goa to benefit the state’s poor.

“It’s an idea I always have had. It all goes back to what Sir Vivian Richards told me at a tourism meet…He said, we can have the best beaches, best architecture, best beauty, but if we don’t have a golf course, it amounts to nothing,” he said.

“The trick is to attract the rich tourist. That stayed with me. It has left an effect on me. I want to think in those directions. Here too, among foreigners, we have Russian tourists, we have put all our eggs in one basket,” he added.