PANAJI
Days after their political fallout, both Goa Forward Party Chief and MLA Vijai Sardesai and Aam Aadmi Party MLA Venzy Viegas tried to resolve their differences by stating that they are part of a united opposition and there is no enmity between them.
The opposition MLAs clashed after Viegas thanked the incumbent CM Pramod Sawant and compared him to Goa’s first CM Dayanand Bandodkar for “putting politics aside” and focusing on development. This statement, made on January 16 (Opinion Poll Day or Asmitai Dis), was not well-received by Sardesai.
The Fatorda MLA said he found the comparison between Sawant and Goa’s first CM “utterly amusing” and dismissed Viegas’s comment as “extremely superficial.” Viegas, in turn, responded by pointing out Sardesai’s past support for the BJP government under both Manohar Parrikar and Sawant.
The controversy has exposed cracks in the opposition alliance, as AAP and GFP, along with Congress as part of the INDIA bloc, contested the recent Lok Sabha elections together.
On Friday, both leaders attended the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting and the Opposition meeting called by the Leader of Opposition, Yuri Alemao, to discuss a joint strategy for the upcoming two-day winter session of the Goa Legislative Assembly next month.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Sardesai ruled out any major differences between the two.
“He is my colleague in the opposition… I respect him… but that does not mean I will support every statement he makes. A statement comparing Pramod Sawant with Dayanand Bandodkar, especially on Opinion Poll day, will not be accepted,” he said.
On the other hand, Viegas admitted that, as part of an opposition family, there could be differences of opinion, but there is no enmity.
“We are 7 MLAs… we are a family and a united opposition. People want to see us fight to expose the government. There can be differences within a family,” he said, adding, “but that does not mean we keep criticising all the time.”
“When someone does good work, we need to praise it too… we also need to ensure that our work is recognised,” he said, stressing that there are several issues where the government has failed, and these need to be exposed.
The AAP MLA also said that the opposition’s role is crucial in building ‘Brand Goa’.
