India, Feb. 18 -- In a sharp escala tion of the battle over the fu ture of Dabolim International Airport, Goa Forward Party (GFP) chief Vijai Sardesai on Tuesday accused the BJP-led State government of main taining deliberate opacity over the airport's fate, even as a written memorandum to the Union Defence Minister acknowledged serious con cerns about its viability. Sardesai referred to the February 10 meeting in New Delhi where Transport Min ister Mauvin Godinho and Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Shet Tanavade submitted a detailed memorandum to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh regarding Dabolim. Sardesai questioned the State government's repeat ed public assurances that Dabolim faces no threat.

Sardesai pointed to what he described as a stark c...