BJP has gained backdoor entry in Mapusa civic council: Cong

“The voters of Mapusa are aware how BJP has used all the tricks in the book to woo the four councillors into their fold with the sole intention to regain power in the council. Mhapshekars are upset because the BJP has formed the council. This council has been formed through devious means and Congress will always expose its shortcomings at every step,” Bhike said.

The North Goa District Congress Committee chief was addressing a news conference along with other Congress block and youth members in the party office in Mapusa.

Continuing, Bhike said the four councillors who were elected on the opposition-led panel have ditched the voters of Mapusa for their selfish gains.

“The four councillors have betrayed the trust of their voters. They switched sides only for their self-interest and to achieve their selfish goals and not for development or bring about any change in Mapusa,” Bhike said.

He said Congress will always stand by the voters of Mapusa and expose all the councillors who have betrayed the trust of the voters.

“Once the present Covid crisis dies down, we will move around the wards of those councillors who switched sides and expose them,” he said.

Bhike said Mapusa has seen no development worth its salt for the last 25 years but only politics.

He said the BJP government right from the start tried its best to manipulate the civic elections by engineering false reservation of wards and therefore Congress had to approach the High Court to right the wrong.

He said a lot of candidates attached fake OBC certificates in their quest to contest and some have even won the elections on such fake certificates.

“Former councillor Franky Carvalho has to prove and expose councillor Tarak Arolkar as Carvalho had made several allegations on his fake OBC certificate,” he said.

The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, executive member, Sudhin Naik also spoke at the news conference.