Cracks in AAP: Benaulim leader, supporters quit, allege party splitting anti-BJP votes

Aam Aadmi Party leader from Benaulim, Paul Lobo, submits his resignation at the AAP Margao office on Monday.

MARGAO
Even before Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal could conclude his three-day visit to Goa, the party suffered a major setback on Monday.
Paul Lobo, a prominent party leader from the Benaulim constituency, resigned from the party along with his supporters, accusing Kejriwal of attempting to split the opposition vote to give the BJP another five-year term to rule Goa.
Lobo also launched a scathing attack on AAP Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas, alleging that the constituency has seen no major development under his leadership. He stated that Viegas should have advised the party leadership against fragmenting the non-BJP vote, which, he warned, would only help the BJP consolidate power.
Joining Lobo in his resignation was his wife, Rinku Lobo, a member of the Cavelossim Village Panchayat. He was accompanied by supporters, besides Saturnino Rodrigues, a resident of Seraulim and a staunch AAP supporter. Lobo submitted his resignation formally at the party office.
A former AAP coordinator for Cavelossim and ex-spokesperson for South Goa, Lobo strongly criticised Kejriwal for targeting the Congress during his Goa tour instead of confronting the BJP.
“If Arvind Kejriwal truly has the courage, he should have questioned the BJP over Goa's worsening situation. Instead, he announced plans to contest all 40 assembly seats. Who has the capacity to contest all 40? This clearly exposes his ill intentions. By doing this, Kejriwal is essentially helping the BJP secure another five-year term,” Lobo said.
He, however, exuded confidence that the wise people of Goa will not allow the split of votes to happen in the upcoming polls. “My supporters and I had slogged for 7-8 years for AAP to get the result in Benaulim. We had all worked from our hearts. But now we have realised the bad intentions of AAP,” he added.
He said, “We feel sad that Goa is heading towards a disaster, the way the government is functioning. The common man is facing suffocation. The State is facing crisis after crisis, but the biggest crisis facing Goa is the crisis of truth. Wrong has been defined as right.”
He added, “Despite the crisis situation, Kejriwal comes to Goa and is attacking the Congress again and again. If he has the guts, he should question the BJP and the powers.”
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Kejriwal creating confusion amongst Goans
Accusing Arvind Kejriwal of trying to create confusion amongst Goans, Paul said, “Our agenda is clear; we want to save Goa by bringing all people together. If Kejriwal wants to go alone in the polls, that means he is not for Goa. He has come to destroy Goa. Only the mother party, the biggest party, the Congress, needs support.”
He added: “In the past, we all AAP supporters listened to party leaders and split the votes. Henceforth, there will be no splitting of votes. We have to stand united.”
Asked whether he has informed MLA Venzy about his decision, Paul shot back, “This is not the question of Venzy. The focus is to save Goa today. This is not a question of Venzy. The MLA should have understood and told his leader. That means he is not for Goa, it appears.”
To another question, Paul said, “Benaulim has not witnessed major development. Arrogance has to stop. One should be polite in politics. We had worked from scratch to bring up the party in Benaulim since 2016.”
Saturnino Rodrigues said that Kejriwal’s agenda is not to support Goa, but to support the BJP. “Kejriwal’s agenda is to destroy Goa,” he said.