Goa town and country planning minister Vijai Sardesai, who drew flak for his controversial remark that domestic tourists are scum of the earth, has refused to retract any part of his statement.

Underlining that he will apologise for expressing his sentiments, the minister claimed that he is not against north Indian tourists, according to a report in Times Of India.

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“A small section of the 6.5 million tourists coming to Goa create the biggest nuisance. These people have no civic sense and they are the ones who are creating maximum garbage and maximum nuisance,” TOI quoted him as saying.

Goa Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai on Friday came down heavily on domestic tourists as he called them “scum of the earth” and alleged that “North Indians” are trying to create Haryana in Goa.

The state minister was speaking at the Goa BizFest in Bambolim when he contradicted CM Manohar Parrikar’s vision of one crore tourists in Goa. He urged the government to target foreign and upper-class Indian tourists. The fest was organised at a resort near Panaji.

Sardesai also made scathing comments about tourists from north India, “who were trying to convert Goa into a Haryana”.