MARGAO
Congress MLAs and leaders put up an united show at the Lohia Maidan Margao on Wednesday not only in support of party South Goa candidate Francisco Sardinha, but to convey a clear signal to the BJP to stop dreaming of taking away any more MLAs to reach the magic figure of 21 in the Legislative Assembly.
Congress leaders led by Leader of the Opposition Babu Kavlekar and former Chief Minister Ravi Naik said a vote for Francisco Sardinha will not only bring the Congress back to power at the Centre but in Goa as well, even as Reginaldo Lourenco made it clear to the BJP that not a single MLA will defect from the party, while terming all rumours as the handiwork of the ruling party.
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat, who was rumoured as one Congress MLA who is likely to quit the party to join the BJP, told the people not to fall prey to rumours, saying that he will not do anything that would result in losing the trust of his workers.
Though the crowd turnout at the public meeting was below expectations, most of the Congress MLAs from South Goa, Babu Kavlekar, Ravi Naik, Digambar Kamat, Luizinho Faleiro, Reginaldo Lourenco, Filipe Neri Rodrigues, Wilfred D’Sa and Clafacio Dias, besides Mahila Congress Chief Pratima Coutinho were all seated on the dais.
In fact, conveying a clear signal to the party workers that the Congress is united, Digambar said that party leaders such as Francisco Sardinha and Reginaldo Lourenco have come together with a common objective of voting out the BJP from power.
In his spirited address, former Chief Minister and Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro slammed the Modi government, terming Prime Minister as a pathological liar for his failure to fulfill the promises made in the 2014 election manifesto. “After having failed to fulfill the election manifesto, Modi is now seeking votes in the name of the armed forces,” he said, adding that asking votes in the name of the armed forces is a violation of the election code of conduct and the Constitution.
Saying that the people of the country are proud of the armed forces, Faleiro recalled how India had won the 1971 war with Pakistan which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh during the tenure of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
In his address, Reginaldo Lourenco exuded confidence that people of South Goa will not vote for the Aam Aadmi Party, saying Elvis Gomes will not poll 10,000 votes. “We are all united for the Congress. That Mahila Congress president Pratima Coutinho is sitting on the dais shows that the party is united. The BJP should forget their dreams of splitting the Congress,” he said. Reginaldo challenged Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to get their party members elected instead of breaking other parties to increase their tally in the Assembly.
Candidate Francisco Sardinha said the mood of the people in Goa as well as the rest of the country is against Narendra Modi. “People do not want the return of the BJP to power again as the ruling party has destroyed democracy and the democratic institutions,” Sardinha added.
Opposition Leader Babu Kavlekar launched a scathing attack on the BJP, saying the ruling party is responsible for the loss of livelihood of thousands of Goans because of the ban on mining.
He wondered why the ECI did not take the Holy Week into consideration before fixing Goa polls on April 23, while accusing the BJP for creating tension in the country for electoral benefits.
