PANAJI
Former Forest Minister and MLA from Cortalim on Thursday bucked a trend in Goa, becoming the first sitting BJP MLA to resign as legislator, while slamming the ruling party for giving up on party principles and enabling political bedlam in the poll-bound State.
Later she flew to Delhi and joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in presence of its National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Goa State Convenor Rahul Mahambre and vice president Valmiki Naik.
“I am happy to welcome Alina Saldanha, sitting BJP MLA from Cortalim to Aam Aadmi Party. Together, we will take forward the legacy of late Matanhy Saldanha and steer Goa to a path of prosperity and corruption free governance”, Kejriwal said in a tweet.
Earlier, after submitting her resignation to the Speaker of the Goa legislative assembly, Rajesh Patnekar, Saldanha accused the BJP of misleading the people of Goa over the controversial road and rail projects in and around protected forests and residential areas in South Goa, which she suggested were being carried out illegally.
"Are there any principles which are being followed? Anyone can jump in anyone can jump out, what is happening? Are those people who stood by the party, respected? And most important of all, I firmly believe that an elected representative of the people is liable to the people and has to stand by the people in times of dire need," Saldanha told reporters after submitting her resignation to the Speaker at the State legislative assembly complex.
Saldanha has been one of the few BJP MLAs who have been critical over the three linear projects along the Goa-Karnataka border. While she claimed that she did not have the time to study the upcoming power transmission project, the road and rail expansion projects were just not the right thing to inflict on the State and its people, she said.
"I am quite convinced because highway passes through the wildlife sanctuaries and I was a Forest Minister, I know the rules and laws that govern wildlife sanctuaries. I know what can be allowed and what cannot be allowed in a wildlife sanctuary," Saldanha also said.
The South Western Railway double tracking, she said will lead to the "destruction of the lives of the people" and leave hundreds of houses destroyed".
"I took the CM to the tracks to show him where the second track will land, because I was informed by one of the railway authorities that from the centre of the existing track, you need 14 meters to lay the second track. And I personally marked the 14 meters. And in almost all cases, the marking landed inside the compounds of these houses and in certain cases, it landed on the verandah of the houses," Saldanha said.
"Will the people be able to live in those houses. Some of those houses are newly constructed on the old plinth. The men have gone away from their families to earn, so that they can make a home for their families. Shall we destroy it? For what benefit. That is the question," she said.
The road and rail projects involve the four-laning of the National Highway-4 and rail track doubling by the South Western Railway from Castlerock railway station in Karnataka to Tinaighat railway station in Goa.
The projects run through the protected forest areas in both Goa and Karnataka territories which are a part of the UNESCO-endorsed Western Ghat region and involve the felling of several thousand trees.
Opponents of the projects had alleged that the doubling tracking of railway tracks and expansion of the National Highway 4 would lead to increased transportation of coal imported to the Mormugao Port Trust to steel mills in Karnataka's Bellary region.
Saldanha said that as a legislator, it was her responsibility to stand by the people of her constituency.
"I have spoken several times to many people and in fact even my supporters have spoken and the issue that comes up are these projects. I cannot change my stand. My conscience will not allow it. I am an elected representative, that means it is the people that have placed their trust in me. I cannot betray their trust," she said.
Reacting to her resignation, state BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade said: "I have just heard that she has resigned as MLA and I do not know if it has been accepted. I tried calling her, but her phone is switched off".
