MARGAO
Accusing the BJP government of resorting to what he termed as “pre-election cheating” by manipulating the reservation of seats for the upcoming Zilla Panchayat polls, Goa Forward Chief Vijai Sardesai has called for unity amongst the non-BJP parties to defeat the ruling dispensation in the coming poll.
Sardesai told the media that the government has manipulated the seat reservations by ensuring that formidable candidates from the opposition are left out of the fray in a number of seats.
“What we have seen is nothing but pre-election cheating by the ruling dispensation. The only way to counter the BJP is now for the opposition parties to join hands and defeat the BJP”, he said.
He added: “By manipulating the seat reservation, the government has only proven that the BJP was trying to win the election through the backdoor”.
Admitting that his plan to nominate a candidate from the ST community in Davorlim has gone haywire with the seat now being reserved for the OBC candidate, the Goa Forward Chief said the party will now have to scout for a candidate to take on the BJP in Davorlim. “We have recently inducted a ST leader into the party fold. We had even declared the candidate as our party candidate for the Davorlim seat as part of social engineering. But, reservation of the Davorlim seat for the OBC has ruled out the candidate. We will work out a strategy along with other opposition parties how to take the BJP head on in Davorlim”, he added.
