the goan I network
MARGAO
In the ongoing ding-dong battle between incumbent Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro and his predecessor and former Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado, the State Congress president has made it clear to all and sundry that Navelkars have given a clear mandate in the Assembly election for him and for the Congress party to rule the constituency and usher in the development for the next five years.
“Avertano did not pass the exam when he went to the people of Navelim after representing them for five years. He should gracefully stay out and respect the mandate of the people, who has brought the Congress back to power in the constituency,” Faleiro told The Goan on Friday.
Faleiro continued: “I had stayed out of Navelim for 10 long years before the people called me back again. Churchill Alemao was out of the constituency for five years. We had respected the mandate of the people and had stayed out of Navelim when people gave a mandate for others.”
Reacting to Avertano’s presence at the road hot-mixing work in the Housing Board area of Rumdamol, Faleiro shot back, “Where were they when the gutters and roads in the housing board were chocked posing a health hazard. The Rumdamol Housing Board area is today backward by around 10 years for want of any development. People of Housing Board have given me and the Congress the mandate to serve the people of the area.”
Pointing out that he means business, the Navelim MLA recalled that he had deployed a private JCB in the housing board to desilt the chocked drains and gutters with sewage before the election since he could not see the filth around. “After the people gave me the mandate, I have started work in the Housing Board as per a planned schedule. Since the people of the Housing Board area have given me the mandate to serve the area for the next five years. I will not let them down and will provide with basic amenities, including sanitation,” he said.
The former Fisheries Minister had on Thursday launched road hot-mixing works in the Housing Board and has vowed to stand by the people of the Housing Board against the illegal tower coming up in the thickly populated residential locality.
That’s not all. With Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar returning to the State to head the BJP-led coalition government, Avertano has decided to keep open his office on grounds that he cannot leave the thousands of supporters and workers, who had voted for him in the February 4 election in the lurch.
