MARGAO
Terming Francisco Sardinha as a rejected material by his own party and a candidate who is around 75 years of age, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday made a fervent plea to the people of South Goa to vote for youth sitting MP Narendra Sawaikar to represent them in Parliament.
He said Sardinha’s candidature was rejected five years ago after the Congress had nominated MLA Reginaldo Lourenco for the seat. “Reginaldo is a young leader and has been doing good work as an opposition MLA. I had seen Reginaldo from close quarters when I was the Speaker. He was the Congress candidate for South Goa in the last election, but this time the Congress has fielded Sardinha again, who is around 75 years of age,” the Chief Minister said, virtually demanding to know whether the Congress had no young leader who could be their candidate. Comparing sitting BJP MP Narendra Sawaikar to the Congress candidate, Sawant said Sardinha, who was thrice elected as MP, neither interacted with people nor was seen in the constituency, he added. Comparatively, the Chief Minister said the sitting BJP MP is not only young and known for his simplicity, but has identified with the common man and their problems. “Right from Canacona to Ponda, Sawaikar had been working with the people. He has utilized 100 per cent of his MPLAD funds on education, infrastructure, railways etc,” he said, adding that the sitting BJP MP had been after the government both at the Ccentre and in the State to resolve the mining issue.
