AAP National convenor Arvind Kejriwal with members of the tourist taxi operators from Cavelossim during his visit to the village with MLA Venzy Viegas and Goa desk in-charge, Atishi Marlena.
MARGAO
As he hopped from one constituency to another in Salcete to drum up support for party candidates for the December 20 Zilla Panchayat polls, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said the upcoming ZP polls should be the beginning of the change Goa is looking for and pave way for the party to form the government in 2027.
At coastal Cavelossim village, part of Benaulim ZP seat, Kejriwal tried to reach out to the tourist taxi drivers, terming as Goa’s tourism brand ambassadors. In the fishing village of Ambelim, he tried to touch the hearts of the local fishing community, promising that only the Aam Aadmi Party can resolve all issues plaguing the fishermen community.
He did not spare AAP’s political opponents, the BJP and Congress. Saying AAP is completely against corruption. Kejriwal said both the BJP and Congress are famous for extortion, corruption and goondagiri. “The proof of the pudding lies in the eating. Unlike others, both our MLAs Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva have not amassed wealth and added to their fleet of cars,” he said.
He sought to know whether the MLA has at any time asked for bribes from contractors and the audience replied with a firm no.
Highlighting the achievements of AAP government in Punjab, Kejriwal said roads in Goa are in bad shape, but the party government has built 43,000 kms of world class roads in Punjab in the last three years and half. “Likewise, let us start the change in Goa with the upcoming Zilla Panchayat election. Support and vote for the AAP candidates and continue to bring about the change, which was started in 2022,” he said.
Assuring that AAP will fight for the rights of the people, he urged the people to join hands to make a better Goa. “The people of Goa made a beginning in 2022 by elected two AAP candidates to the Goa Legislative Assembly. In 2027, AAP should form the government so that we get honest politics in Goa. The upcoming Zilla Panchayat should be the beginning of the change Goa is looking for,” he added.
Addressing the people and party volunteers, AAP Goa desk in-charge, Atishi Marlena underscored the need to elect party fielded ZP members in Velim and Benaulim to ensure that development takes place.
Friendly fight won’t defeat BJP: Atishi on Oppn alliance
MARGAO: Aam Aadmi Party Goa desk in-charge, Atishi Marlena on Friday slammed Congress-Goa Forward ‘friendly fight alliance’, asserting only AAP can truly defeat the BJP, corruption and goondaraj.
Fielding a question posed by a member of the audience at Velim on the alliance, the AAP Goa in-charge strongly criticised the ongoing Congress-Goa Forward alliance, saying, “This friendly fight alliance lacks seriousness. These parties cannot even sit together and decide seats.”
She added: “What Goa needs today is a real alternative. This so-called friendly alliance cannot do that. If the people unite, we can definitely throw the BJP out.”
It’s ‘hafta vasooli govt’: Kejriwal
PANAJI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal launched a scathing attack on the BJP government in Goa, branding it a “hafta vasooli sarkar” while addressing a public meeting at Tilamol in Quepem in support of the party’s Xeldem Zilla Panchayat candidate James Fernandes.
“The Pramod Sawant government is nothing but a hafta (extortion) vasooli sarkar. No work happens without demanding hafta or bribe. The Arpora incident is the clearest example: a nightclub without permissions operated freely only because the government was collecting hafta. This is why Goa today suffers under a hafta vasooli sarkar,” Kejriwal declared.
He further accused the ruling dispensation of shielding criminals and intimidating ordinary citizens, while appealing to Goans to unite against the BJP.
