MARGAO
Saying the Congress party should share the blame for the defection by the eight party MLAs, South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha on Friday blamed the looters and liars presiding over the party during the 2022 elections for giving tickets to candidates despite his objection.
The MP made a fervent plea to the men-in-uniform to stop targeting wedding receptions, but to direct their time and energy in stopping late-night parties, where drugs and alcohol are freely used.
Saying that Goa has earned a bad name with police from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana coming to the State in hot pursuit of drug peddlers, the MP demanded that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who holds the Home portfolio, should engage an advisor on how to go after drugs and the peddlers head on.
Addressing the media, Sardinha said while the eight MLAs have left the party to join the Congress, the party is also to be blamed for the defections. “The liars and looters who had presided over the party at that time were responsible for allotting the tickets. I had lodged my objection, but they were all overruled,” he said.
Sardinha, however, though the eight MLAs have defected, the party is still strong and alive in Goa.
He repeated his charge drugs cannot be freely available without the connivance of the police, demanding the transfer of all police officials from the coastal belt as a precautionary measure and to take the ongoing investigations to a logical conclusion.
“Are the Goa police dumb and deaf that they have no idea of drug peddlers when police from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are coming into the State in search of them,” he questioned.
He added: “The police make their presence at the wedding receptions if they play the sound beyond the time limit. But, the Goa police do not show the same zeal in going after drug parties.”
On the Margao Municipal Chairperson’s election, Sardinha said the Congress-turned-BJP MLA Digambar Kamat should set a good example for the Margao City Fathers so that the local bodies enjoy political stability. He wondered whether the Margao Municipality will have stability with the Kamat-backed councillors dislodging the Chairperson within a week.
Sardinha offers to resolve Curra-Raia families’ water woes through MPLAD scheme
MARGAO: Days after the beleaguered families of Curra-Raia drew the attention of the BJP leaders to their water woes, South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha has offered to resolve the issue through his MPLAD scheme.
Earlier this week, residents of Curra in Raia village had brought to the notice of BJP leaders Anthony Barbosa and others during a party programme how they are grappling with water woes for want of tap water in the locality.
“I am shocked and surprised to know that the few families at Curra-Raia have still no accessibility to potable water. I am not representing Curtorim constituency for the last decade and a half and I do not know whether the incumbent MLA Reginaldo Lourenco is sleeping over the issue,” he said, while offering to address the issue, if possible through the MPLAD scheme.
