Sardinha says he should place this before the BJP
MARGAO
South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha on Wednesday hit out at NCP MLA Churchill Alemao for demanding 50 per cent seats in the event of an alliance with the Congress, saying the Benaulim MLA should put his demand before the BJP and not the Congress since given his close association with the ruling party.
Sardinha further appealed to the people of Benaulim never to elect people such as Churchill to the Legislative Assembly, charging the MLA for starting defections and for destroying Goa.
Flanked by Congress Vice-president M K Sheikh and South District Congress President Joe Dias, the MP said Churchill has no right to talk about an alliance he was sitting in the lap of the ruling BJP. “If at all Churchill is interested in an alliance, he should forge an alliance with the BJP,” he said.
Referring to NCP top leader Praful Patel’s stand that the NCP should get at least 7-8 seats in the event of an alliance with the Congress, Sardinha said the issue of the alliance will be decided by the Congress high command at the right time.
On the controversial double-tracking project, the MP said the Railways have started work on the project without obtaining permissions.
“The Chief Minister should know that if people can change governments, changing an ill-conceived decision is the responsibility of the government in power. My appeal to the government is don’t destroy the State. Congress had in the past scrapped the decisions which were opposed by the people,” he recalled.
Demanding that the government resume legal mining in the state without any further delay, Sardinha said the government should also ensure that sand mining and stone and rubble quarrying also resume in the state since these construction materials are in short supply, allowing unscrupulous elements to make a fast buck.
Saying that the government is running the state on loans, the MP said it should ensure that the loans are judiciously spent for the development of the State.
