UDUPI: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday visited the families of two persons who went missing along with Suvarna Tribhuja fishing boat off the Goa coast on December 13.The minister, accompanied by several others, visited the houses of Chandrashekhar and Damodar at Malpe and assured the familiy members of intensified searches for them.Damodar's parents were in tears as the minister visited them. His father wondered whether he would be able to have a last glimpse of his son. He said he knew that the government was doing its best to look for his son. Chandrashekhar's wife too could not control her emotions and requested the minister to find out what happened to her husband.The minister assured to conduct an exclusive meeting with the family members and Navy officers. As the model code of conduct is in force in the district, political leaders and media persons may not be part of this meeting, she said.Further, she requested everyone not to use the issue for political purposes. If the JD(S) candidate has any proof against Navy in this issue, he is welcome to present it. However, levelling allegations without any proof shows lack of responsibility, she said.“There was a fear that they probably might have injured, even carried onshore, swam and reached the coast. Hence we also spoke to the chief minister of Maharashtra and immediately started a search operation. The searches are conducted even now. During the Bangalore air show, I met the families. I had promised the families to organise a meeting with Navy officials. However, it got postponed because of the airstrike and model code of conduct,” she said.‘Shobha contributed a lot to district’ Shobha Karandlaje has contributed a lot to the district, Sitharaman said. She played a role in setting up Kendriya Vidyalaya, passport office, Sakhi centre, NH construction, gems and jewels skill development centre and startups like Atal tinkering Labs in most schools in the coastal district. The NIT-K Surathkal has been considered for innovation hub fund, so that children could get the best guidance in the startup field. The Karwar Naval Base payment, which was pending for a long time, is cleared on Central government intervention, she said.The country wants a strong Prime Minister like Narendra Modi, who gives enough power/freedom to the army to take action against terrorism, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. Speaking at the Vijay Sankalp meet organised at Kunjibettu near the BJP office, she said: “Now the people of the country are proud and respectful towards their soldiers. They were sad earlier that every year soldiers were killed in large numbers and the government kept quiet. This is the reason why after the Pulwama attack, people stood united and gave full support to the government,” she said.

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