MARGAO
There wasn’t much politics heard at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, Fatorda as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially inaugurated the 37th National Games on Thursday evening, except when Chief Minister Pramod Sawant concluded his speech with a slogan Modi tum aage badho, hum tumhare sath hai.
The chief minister, however, should be certainly pleased over the standing ovation the prime minister received at the stadium with chants of Modi, Modi reverberating around the packed stadium.
Coming as it does in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election and with the inaugural ceremony taking place right at the heart of South Goa Lok Sabha constituency, the chief minister and the leadership must have certainly hoped that the National Games create a feel good factor for the party ahead of next year’s polls.
As the Prime Minister went round the packed Nehru stadium in an open decorated vehicle, waving to the crowd and acknowledging shouts of Modi, Modi with a namaste, the chief minister did not lag behind, who along with Rajya Sabha MP and BJP State President Sadanand Tanavade stood behind the PM in the vehicle.
A smiling chief minister not only waved to the crowd, but repeatedly showed thumbs up and made a namaste sign as the open vehicle took a round of the stadium before the prime minister took the dais.
Sawant’s Cabinet was present in full strength at the inaugural ceremony, right from Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, to Ramkrishna Dhavalikar, to Sports Minister Govind Gawde, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte, Ravi Naik, Subhash Faldesai, Nilesh Cabral, Atanasio Monserrate, Nilkhant Harlankar, Subhash Shridokar, besides Union Minister Shripad Naik, Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar and others.
The chief minister must have been pleased over the presence of Congress South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha and Goa Forward Chief, Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, who made his presence felt at the stadium upon an invitation from the CM.
That the chief minister invoked PM Modi’s mantra sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka prayas indicated that Sawant was sending the right signal to the people of Goa that his government believes in inclusive development.
That’s not all. The chief minister took pride in saying that Goa is known all over for football. Along with Brahmanand Sankhwalkar, the chief minister took the name of Bruno Coutinho for bringing laurels to the State. And, while reminding of Bhatka Kulkari for making a name in sport, the chief minister also referred to Goan sailor Katya Coelho for her achievements in the sports arena.
That the Chief Minister took the platform to announce the host of projects launched in the State with the help and assistance of the Prime Minister, including the National Forensic Science Institute, the National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Cuncolim, Legal education, All India Ayush Institute at Dhargal, National Institute of Water Sports, is seen as an attempt not just to unveil the government’s development work, but lay bare his achievements in front of the Prime Minister.
The Chief Minister also did not fail to make a mention of the G20 meetings hosted by Goa earlier this year, paving the way for putting Goa on the world tourism map. And, he did not forget to invoke Prime Minister’s Atmanirbhar Bharat and Swayampurna Goem by implementing the PM’s 10 flagships in the State.
