THE GOAN NETWORK
MAPUSA
The Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have perfected the art of fighting itself, and the latest battleground is Saligao.
After last week's public spat in Pernem between former MLA Babu Azgaonkar and sitting MLA Pravin Arlekar, the scene has now shifted to Saligao, where ex-MLA and former minister Dilip Parulekar has taken a not-so-subtle dig at current BJP MLA Kedar Naik.
The flashpoint? A gaping crater on the CHOGM road stretch at Sangolda and the overall sorry state of roads in the constituency “ which Parulekar claims is proof enough that the current MLA and local panchayats have “spectacularly failed” at their job.
“Had the roads been repaired properly instead of just given a fresh layer of tar, we wouldn’t be driving through these bad roads today,” Parulekar quipped, pointing at the CHOGM stretch that has caved in and poses a serious threat to motorists and residents alike.
Taking his critique up a notch, Parulekar didn’t just stop at finger-pointing.
He generously offered to repair the road himself “ all in public interest.
“People are coming to me and asking what’s going on. What do I tell them? That their MLA is still figuring out which end of the road to start from?” he remarked.
He also hit out at the substandard patchwork on the road leading to the Pilerne Industrial Estate, where poured concrete “ supposedly meant to withstand the monsoon “ got washed out. The resulting mess, according to him, flooded shops and homes, leaving locals high, wet and without business.
