PANAJI
The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday held a protest at the official residence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant at Altinho in Panaji to condemn the blatant sale of Goa’s lifeline, Mhadei, to censure that BJP gains grounds in Karnataka and to safeguard the party’s larger political agenda.
AAP delegation led by Goa convener Rahul Mhambre asserted that the interests of Goa and Goans was primary and there can never be any compromise on that.
During the meeting with the Chief Minister, Mhambre demanded that AAP should be a part of the all party delegation which will call on the central government over the matter. Sawant agreed to this demand and also assured that he will schedule an appointment in this regard in New Delhi at the earliest.
AAP pointed out to the Chief Minister that he had sacrificed Mhadei river for the sake of his party politics and argued that he was first and foremost the Chief Minister of Goa and member of the BJP later.
Mhambre rued that even after 18 years of complaining about the diversion of Mhadei waters and the effect it will bear on Goa, neither the Congress nor the BJP has actually tried to save the river.
He castigated CM Sawant for only blaming Congress for the Mhadei mess and pointed out that the BJP has been ruling for the last eight years. The AAP Goa convener further questioned the CM on why he imported MLAs from the Congress party if he believed that the Congress was bad for Goa.
“Presently, the Water Resources Minister is Philip Neri Rodrigues, who was a minister in the earlier Congress government too. So, should we presume that the BJP is now following the same policy of betrayal of Goa and Goan interest that was done by Congress earlier?” Mhambre questioned.
He also asked the Chief Minister to take a stand on Mhadei issue with the Prime Minister and to seek his help in protecting Mhadei which is the main sweet water provider to Goa.
AAP sought to point out that the level of the water in Goa was lower this year despite having received the highest rainfall in recent times, a matter of serious concern which could eventually spell doom for Goans.
Use Rs 300 crore fund to generate employment: Mhambre to govt
PANAJI: While pointing out that Goans are going through severe financial crisis due to the lockdown resulting in loss of revenue for most people, Aam Aadmi Party on Tueday demanded that the Rs 300 crore package granted by the Union Finance Minister be used to generate employment and support local businesses.
AAP Goa convener Rahul Mhambre pointed out that many Goans have lost their jobs due to the lockdown and are lying idle at home as there are jobs available and hence said this package should be used to provided employment opportunities for such people.
He suggested that the government use these funds to make interim arrangements to provide some basic income to unemployed people in Goa so that they can live with dignity and peace and suggested that the government prepare a scheme wherein each person who lost a job or suffered business loss be provided relief of at least Rs 5,000.
