MAPUSA
On a wet monsoon day in Goa’s most famous beach village, politics took a dramatic turn. The stage was meant for a national event, but Calangute’s veteran Sarpanch Joseph Sequeira had other plans.
What followed was less a nationalistic speech and more a political broadside, leaving many to wonder if the ruling BJP’s coastal fortress was showing cracks.
Sequeira began on a historical note, invoking Goa’s liberation. “We all fought for it “ Hindus, Christians, Muslims. But today one community is trying to claim that it alone liberated Goa or India,” he said, recalling the unrest over the Shivaji Maharaj statue installation near the Calangute police station.
“Our panchayat office was broken, our cars were damaged. What did you gain by doing this?” he asked, seen by many as a veiled rebuke to forces aligned with his own party.
Then came sharper jabs aimed at local MLA Michael Lobo, though never named. Sequeira accused Lobo of foisting the Outline Development Plan (ODP) on Calangute “for personal gains” and permitting 200 percent FAR, causing tall buildings that altered the skyline. “Till today, nothing has happened. People are living in fear. Don’t make empty promises,” he warned, recalling Lobo’s 2017 pledge to regularise houses in CRZ areas.
The Sarpanch also raised environmental concerns, claiming the garbage treatment plant had poisoned wells and the sewage treatment facility discharged into the Baga river, killing fish.
For political watchers, the speech signalled friction within BJP in North Goa. Murmurs of new alignments and fresh groupings ahead of the next polls suggest the drama in Calangute may be an early sign of larger churn. “Each one is developing his own village “ Parra, Arpora… but what has been done in Calangute?” Sequeira asked, his voice laced with frustration, the question hanging heavy in the misty air.
