MARGAO
A change in the political guard at the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee has brought about a glaring shift in the stance and perception of the Congress party on the controversial Regional Plan 2021.
From an ambivalent stand a little less than a week ago, the Congress has descended on the battlefield to lend solidarity to the people demanding scrapping of RP21 and formulation of a new Plan.
If outgoing GPCC Shantaram Naik sought to maintain a distance from the ongoing agitation, even going to the extent of saying the Congress does not support the activists, his successor Girish Chodankar has not only vouched the party’s support to the movement against the controversial plan, but has sent a message loud and clear to the government that the Congress would stand by the people as evident by the presence of Party MLAs and leaders at the Lohia Maidan protest meet last week.
Explaining the Congress position, the new GPCC president said the party’s stand on RP21 is not new, going to the extent of saying that the party had fought the 2017 Assembly polls with a promise to reformulate the RP and scrap the PDAs. “This is not my stand, but that of the party contained in the 2017 Assembly election manifesto. I was part of the party election manifesto finalization process initiated in the run up to the 2017 Assembly election”, Girish told The Goan.
In fact, a glance at the relevant provisions of the Congress election manifesto made available by the new GPCC president spoke about the Congress party promising to amend the draft Regional Plan 2021 and reformulate the plan. The Congress manifesto also speaks of reformulating the RP21 under the provisions of a newly reformed TCP Act, indicating that the Congress too was in favour of bringing about the necessary amendment to the TCP Act, which has come under fire from the activists and civil society.
A further glance at the Congress manifesto further speaks of incorporation the mandatory provisions under the 73rd & 74th Amendment, Act, Environment Protection and Heritage Protection Acts.
On the question of PDAs, Girish says the party election manifesto clearly speaks about scrapping the PDAs, with a provision that TCP will provide technical support for planning, execution and monitoring the local bodies. “The Congress in the run up to the 2017 Assembly election had consulted Margao MLA and former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on the issue of PDAs. Kamat as well as other leaders had insisting on the scrapping the PDAs”, Girish added.
Sources in the Congress said the party will come out with a clear-cut stand on how to go about on the issue with the ongoing agitation receiving the backing and support of a cross section of society. That the newly-elected GPCC president, Goa Mahila Congress president Pratima Coutinho and as many as six Congress MLAs, Reginaldo Lourenco, Filipe Neri Rodrigues, Clafacio Dias, Wilfred D’Sa, Isidore Fernandes and Tony Fernandes descending at the Lohia Maidan at the massive protest meeting convened by Goencho Avaaz has sent clear indications that the Congress will make a common cause with the agitations in line with the party election manifesto and taking into account that the people descending on the streets constitute the party’s electoral support base.
Agitation against RP21 is right: BBSM
MARGAO: Asserting that people are right in coming out and objecting to the controversial RP 2021, Konkani writer and Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) leader Adv Uday Bhembre on Sunday attributed the growing unrest among people to the crisis in governance and democracy prevailing in the state and termed the coalition government as nothing but a marriage of convenience between parties holding different views and ideologies. He said people of Goa are right in expressing their objection to the RP21 because of the host of discrepancies. “Not only the regional plan, people of Goa are getting worried, agitated and frustrated day by day as evident by the spate of agitations witnessed across the state,” Bhembre told The Goan on Sunday.
