VENUE
Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium
SPEECH
15 minutes to booth-level party workers
PRESENCE
Nearly 12,000 grass-root Congress workers
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HISSING ON 'MISSING'
A few Rahul bytes ...
>> He said the BJP govt had told the SC that Rafale files had gone missing
>> He even pointed out that the government in Goa itself had gone 'missing'
>> The government was stolen from you to benefit the Ambanis, he roared
>> He said sustainable mining and tourism had gone missing under BJP rule
>> GST and demonetisation have Tourism industry go 'gayab', said Cong chief
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RAFALE ROW
POT SHOT AT
PARRIKAR
Why Goa Chief Minister (CM) Manohar Parrikar has still not been investigated after stating at a cabinet meeting that the Rafale files were with him?---------------------------------------------------------
- Rahul Gandhi
PANAJI: Congress President Rahul Gandhi chose his interaction with booth-level party workers on Friday to promise that if elected to power at the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the government will restart "sustainable mining" in Goa. "The mining ban in the state has put lots of people in loss. If voted to power, we will restart sustainable mining in the state," Gandhi said to an almost packed-to-capacity Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium, where he delivered a 15 minute speech to booth-level workers of the party.
Gandhi stressed on all the things in Goa that had gone missing ("gayab") after the BJP government took over, recalling that the BJP government had told the Supreme Court that the Rafale files had gone missing. (Gayab ho gaye.)
Gandhi's event at the stadium was part of the Congress' ongoing "Jeet ki Aur" 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign which the party estimated drew around 12,000 grass-root Congress workers.
He even pointed out that the government in Goa itself had gone "missing." "The government was stolen from you to benefit the Ambanis... You must take these issues to the people during your campaign. The Congress will come to power in 2019," he stressed. He dared the government to order an investigation saying: "The day the government takes out Parrikar from the CM's post, the missing Rafale files will come out. Lots of information is in the files."
Gandhi named sustainable mining and sustainable tourism as the key things that had gone missing under the BJP's rule, and advised the booth-level workers to remind the people of Goa in their campaigns that it was the BJP who robbed the people from having a Congress government after Goa had chosen the Congress in 2017.
"The tourism industry in Goa was flourishing, but the government made it to go "gayab" by bringing in the GST and demonetisation," he said.
"Now Modi has started a coal hub to benefit his crony-capitalist friends," he added.
Gandhi also devoted a section of his speech to his pet subject - the Rafale scam.
Taking a pot-shot at Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, he said: "Why Goa Chief Minister (CM) Manohar Parrikar has still not been investigated after stating at a cabinet meeting that the Rafale files were with him?"
Gandhi's address struck a chord with the cadres of the Youth Congress, a group of who held up alphabets that read "Chowkidar Chor Hai" and also raised slogans at opportunity they got. They were cheering Gandhi throughout his address.
They also responded with "Chor hai" in chorus, each time Gandhi uttered "Chowkidar" during his speech.
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Cong president to meet
MLAs, NGOs today
>> See pg 3
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GMPF hails Rahul's
mining promise
PANAJI: The Goa Mining Peoples' Front (GMPF) on Friday welcomed Congress president Rahul Gandhi's promise to restart sustainable mining in the state if voted to power, with president of the GMPF Puti Gaonkar telling "The Goan" that the mining dependents would support any party that would bring back mining.
"We welcome Gandhi's announcement and will support the party that will bring back mining, and oppose the party that could not bring it back," he said.
