Candidates begin with temple and church visits, pledge participatory meets, door-to-door outreach
PANAJI
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the first to announce candidates for the upcoming Zilla Panchayat elections tentatively scheduled for December 20, has hit the campaign trail in North Goa.
The party’s candidates began their outreach with visits to churches and temples in their respective constituency jurisdictions, signalling what they described as a spiritual and honest start to their grassroots campaign.
AAP leaders emphasised that their approach to politics would be rooted in people’s participation through manifesto meetings, door-to-door canvassing, and village-level outreach.
In Calangute, AAP candidate Carol Fernandes, accompanied by family members and supporters, visited the Holy Trinity Church in Nagoa before beginning her campaign.
“Starting with God’s blessings gives me strength to serve sincerely. Our manifesto meetings will ensure that the people of Calangute decide development priorities. AAP stands for politics based on people’s issues, not politics of deals,” Fernandes said.
She stressed that development in Calangute would be determined by residents themselves, through participatory meetings.
In Priol, candidate Sarita Panjikar began her campaign with prayers at the Shri Mahalsa Temple in Mardol. She recalled her extensive social work during the COVID-19 pandemic, which she said had connected her deeply with people’s struggles.
“During COVID, I worked day and night helping families -- that service introduced me to people’s real struggles. AAP has given me this opportunity because of my social work, not political connections. I will take this campaign to every home, showcase AAP’s work, and humbly ask for people’s support,” Panjikar said, adding that her campaign will focus on household-level outreach and highlight AAP’s record of service.
In Anjuna, candidate Pujan Malvankar launched his campaign with visits to the Swami Siddheshwar, Datta, and Sai temples. He pointed to his work on local infrastructure and health initiatives.
“Through our manifesto meetings, every resident will shape Anjuna’s development plan. I have been on the ground fighting for better roads, water supply and helping people through health camps -- I will go to the people with this work and seek support,” Malvankar said.
AAP said their campaigns will now intensify with manifesto meetings, door-to-door visits, and village-level outreach, as the party seeks to position itself as the alternative to traditional politics in Goa.
