AAP welcomes group of ST leaders led by Vinay Velip into their fold

 Aam Admi Party leaders welcoming Vinay Velip and ST youth in the party fold at Margao on Sunday.

Photo Credits: Santosh Mirajkar

MARGAO

The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday made its intentions clear of making forays in the Scheduled tribes areas in a bid to consolidate the ST vote towards the party ahead of the ensuing Zilla Panchayat and Assembly elections.

Sunday saw the party top brass comprising of party chief Amit Palekar and party MLAs Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva welcoming a group of ST leaders led by Vinay Velip at a programme held in the city here on Sunday.

While the two MLAs has promised to raise the issues plaguing the ST community, including the long-pending demand for political reservations in the coming Assembly session, Party chief Palekar asserted that AAP will stand strongly behind ST community in the fight for their rights.

Welcoming Vinay Velip of the Aadi Brigade and his group into the Party, Benaulim MLA Captain Venzy Viegas & Velim MLA Cruz Silva committed to raising the issues of the Scheduled Tribes community during the upcoming Assembly session. 

MLA Silva promised that political reservation in assembly elections, along with other pressing issues faced by the tribal community, will be raised in the assembly.

Assuring the construction of an Adivasi Bhavan as soon as AAP comes to power, MLA Viegas said “The tribal community is being exploited and their issues are not being resolved. Their demand for political reservation is still pending. There is a deliberate plan to delay political reservation for the tribal community until the 2027 Assembly elections and even the following Lok Sabha elections. Issues like the Adivasi Bhavan and several other concerns remain unresolved. If AAP comes to power in the 2027 Assembly elections, these problems will be addressed”.

Palekar stated that many issues of the ST community remain unresolved. The Forest Rights Act is not being implemented effectively, and the ST Commission itself has several unresolved matters, he said.

Prashant Naik stated that Vinay Velip and his group joined AAP to provide a platform to address the problems of the ST community. “Talks had been going on for over a year, and the Aadi Brigade saw that AAP MLAs were helping people all over Goa and not just in their constituencies, and decided to support the common man’s party, he asid..

After joining AAP, Vinay Velip said that the Aadi Brigade organization was originally formed to address tribal community issues. However, the government tried to dismantle it by co-opting some of its leaders.  

“The condition of the tribal community is dire. Even Minister Govind Gaude was removed from the cabinet and the government is trying to shut down the UTAA. We have seen AAP work for the common man’s issues, and we trust them to solve our community’s long-pending problems”, Velip stated.