Goa will not be home to the country’s first Playboy club with the state government deciding to reject a proposal for opening this facility at Candolim beach amid a controversy that it would promote vulgarism.
Bowing to pressure from within ruling BJP against the US-based Playboy club’s move to open a branch in the tourist state, chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said the application would not be considered by his government on “technical grounds”.
“The Playboy Club’s application for setting up the facility in beach shack would be rejected as shack licences are usually given to individuals and not to the companies”, Mr Parrikar told the state Assembly. Technically, it is not possible for the state government to grant licence to Playboy club, he added. Goa attracts 24 lakh tourists, both foreign and domestic, annually.
The Playboy Club, a chain of nightclubs and resorts, had applied for setting up its facility in a beach shack at Candolim beach as per its business plan to open 120 clubs, bars and cafes in India by 2022. However, the proposed venture faced stringent opposition, spearheaded by BJP MLA Michael Lobo, who alleged that the club will promote “vulgarity” and threatened hungerstrike if the enterprise is allowed to operate in the state.
He had also raised the issue on the floor of the House in the form of calling attention motion.