Goans will not tolerate any comparison of a human being with the local deity Shantadurga, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday.
Sawant was referring to comparisons made by a local Trinamool Congress leader Kiran Kandolkar of West Bengal Chief Minister and the party's founder to goddess Shantadurga, a local deity revered as an avatar of Goddess Durga.
"Do not compare anyone to our Goddesses just like that. I felt bad when it happened. How can you compare someone to a goddess? Devi Shanta durga is devi Shanta durga. No one in Goa will accept (this comparison) such comments. Goans will not tolerate comparison of Devi Shantadurga to a person. It is not possible to tolerate this," Sawant said.
In October this year, Kandolkar who was then a working president of the Goa Forward party had said: "Navaratris are going on, this is the eight day. I feel that we will have to get Durga to Goa. The Durga in Goa is referred to as Shantadurga. She is calm. We will have to get the real Durga from Kolkata to Goa to destroy this bhasmasur-like government".
Kandolkar joined the All India Trinamool Congress last month.
Chief Minister Sawant also said that because of Banerjee's comparison with a goddess, some 'Gods' had decided to associate themselves with her, in an oblique reference to some local politicians joining her party and the alliance between the West Bengal-based party and the Trinamool Congress.
"Some people may have even thought that she is a real goddess, which is why some Gods have decided to stick with her," Sawant said.
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