MARGAO
Former deputy chief minister and BJP leader Manohar Ajgaonkar on Friday asserted that he would contest the 2027 Assembly election from the Pernem constituency.
Speaking to the media at the 35th anniversary of the Gandhi Market Vegetable and Readymade Garment Association at the Gandhi Market here on Friday, Ajgaonkar said he is confident of making it to the Goa Legislative Assembly from Pernem in 2027 with the blessings of the people and the Almighty.
When asked under which party banner he would contest the 2027 polls as Pernem is currently represented by the BJP in the Assembly, Ajgoankar shot back: “I am still in the BJP. Let us wait and see. But, I want to make clear that I will contest the 2027 Assembly polls from Pernem.”
Reminding that he had started his career in the Gandhi Market around 35 years ago, Ajgaonkar said his work at the grassroots for the poor and the downtrodden made him a Margao Municipal councillor before the people of Pernem elected him on four occasions to the Goa Legislative Assembly.
Saying that he has already worked for the upliftment of the poor and the downtrodden, the former deputy chief minister said the work ushered by him in Pernem over the years will keep him in good stead for the 2027 Assembly polls.
Taking up cudgels for the vegetable vendors in the Gandhi Market belonging to the ST community, Ajgoankar vowed that he would never allow 'tamdi bhaji' from outside the State to find its way into the Gandhi Market. “We have to protect the interests of the local vegetable vendors, who mostly hail from the ST community. They work hard in the fields to produce vegetables, and if they don’t get the rates for their produce, they will quit agriculture,” he said.
