PANAJI
Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday refuted the charges made by the Bharatiya Janata Party against its new hoardings put up after the announcement of its State convenor Elvis Gomes as AAP’s chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming polls to Goa Assembly.
Likening the Crime Branch of Goa Police to gestapo, AAP has also alleged that the government is threatening the hoarding vendors through some officials of the Crime Branch.
Around eight hoardings have been put up across the State. These are titled ‘Who will save Goa?’ has labelled the photo of Elvis Gomes as ‘honest' while putting several red question marks besides the photo of CM Laxmikant Parsekar.
Speaking at Panaji, AAP member Dr Oscar Rebello stated, “Through the CID officers, the government is threatening the hoarding vendors. Nowhere have we offended the CM. What is the derogatory remark. Is it offensive to BJP that Parsekar is their CM?”
He also said that the AAP hoardings at Fatorda have been ordered to be taken down by the Margao Municipal Council. “They are rattled by AAP and our growing popularity among Goans. But it is ridiculously undemocratic that they should be so worried by our posters,” Dr Rebello said.
He further clarified that the AAP campaign does not seek to malign or attack any individual and that the aim is only to draw a comparison between AAP’s CM candidate Gomes and present CM Parsekar.
“In the near future, when other parties also begin to declare their CM candidates, we will compare them with Gomes,” he said.
Lashing out at the ruling party, Dr Rebello stated that the BJP is ‘like Santa Claus’ and is increasingly looking like Congress of the old with the starcast of the Congress rejected in 2012 finding home in the ruling party.
Referring to the entry of several Congressmen into the BJP over the last few weeks, Dr Rebello said, “You pretend to fight corruption and then you embrace those branded by you in the past as being corrupt. This is sheer hypocrisy. The BJP should admit these are political compulsions instead of making moral postulations.”
PANAJI: BJP President Vinay Tendulkar on Thursday submitted a written complaint before the Chief Electoral Officer at Altinho against the hoardings of the AAP while terming them as ‘derogatory and insinuating’ and the campaign as ‘malicious’.
BJP has sought the intervention and strong action from the CEO’s office.
“The hoardings are inherently derogatory and insinuating in nature, aimed specifically at maligning the public perception of Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar,” the plaint reads adding that the content casts aspersions on the honesty of the CM.
BJP president has further accused the AAP of setting bad precedents in the run up to the Assembly polls and of degrading the very standard of campaigning.
Meanwhile, former BJP youth leader Atmaram Barve has also filed a complaint at the office of the Director General of Goa Police against the State and national presidents of the AAP calling for exemplary action against them.
