MARGAO
Congress bigwigs descended on Navelim on Wednesday in support of Mahila Congress Chief Pratima Coutinho contesting the Navelim Zilla Panchayat by-poll.
If BJP state president Sadanand Tanavade and Dy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar visited Navelim in support of the BJP candidate Satyavijai Naik, Congress leaders led by Leader of Opposition, Digambar Kamat, GPCC Chief Girish Chodankar, Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro and Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco all came in strength in support of the party candidate.
In a rare show of unity, the party leaders shared the dais at Navelim as they made a fervent plea to the people of Navelim to vote and elect Pratima and defeat the BJP.
Even as the BJP sought to muster votes for the party candidate on the plea that the party is already ruling the South Goa Zilla Panchayat, the Congress leaders asserted that Pratima is required to play the role of opposition in the ZIlla Panchayat.
Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat made a fervent plea to the people of Navelim constituency to use the ZP bye-poll opportunity to teach the BJP a lesson. “The ruling party has crossed all limits,. They do not respect the democracy and the courts. The common man is put to great hardships because of the decisions of the government”, he said, while urging the people of Navelim to teach the BJP a lesson by voting the Congress candidate to the Zilla Panchayat.
In his address, GPCC Chief Girish Chodankar said that BJP has already conceded defeat as the party has decided to put its reserve force, including the supporting MLA, Churchill Alemao to defeat the Congress candidate. “We have no doubt that the people of Navelim constituency has decided in favour of the Congress nominee Pratima Coutinho. The police report has already gone to the government that the BJP has no chance in Navelim”, he said.
Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco said that Pratima is one candidate who needs no introduction, saying the candidate is known all across the state, taking up causes dear to the common man.
He said Pratima is all the more required in the South Goa Zilla Panchayat to play the role of opposition and to stop the BJP from misusing the majority in the 25-member body.
Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro urged the voters to rally behind Pratima and elect her to the South Goa Zilla Panchayat.
While Pratima sought the support of the people of Navelim for her candidature, Congress party district president, Joe Dias, Velim ZP member Julio Fernandes, Velim Sarpanch Savio D’Silva, Jose Raju Cabral, Avinash Shirodkar, former Rachol Sarpanch Joseph Vaz and others also spoke at the meeting.
