A Goan youth who had allegedly posted comments against Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi on his Facebook account during the Lok Sabha election campaign, is likely to face arrest after a local court rejected his anticipatory bail plea in Panaji on Friday.
A month after Sudin Dhavalikar, PWD minister in the Manohar Parrikar-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Goa, asked for a ban on bikinis on beaches, his party member Lavoo Mamledar said that if tourism had to be promoted and is necessary, then there could be a bikini beach with entry fees.
Having already triggered a controversy by his remark against "young girls going to pubs in short dresses", Goa minister Sudin Dhavalikar on Tuesday waded into another, saying bikinis should be banned on state's beaches.
Unfazed by the controversy over his comments on the gangrape of two Delhi-based women in Goa, Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar on Saturday maintained it was a "small incident" and that it occurs where tourism flourishes.
With just over a month to go for assembly elections in Goa, political observers feel the Congress may upset the Bharatiya Janata Party's plans for retaining power in the coastal state, but appear less enthused about the Trinamool Congress, whose entry has added colour to the poll campaign.
His remarks drew flak from Opposition Congress which alleged that it reflected the 'racist attitude' of the BJP government.