MARGAO
Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai took pot shots at the Opposition MLAs as they were conspicuous by their absence at the 18th June Goa Revolution Day official function at the Lohia Maidan, but Congress MLAs and leaders trooped inside the historic Maidan minutes after curtains came
down on the official programme to pay tributes to the freedom fighers.
The TCP Minister was visibly upset after he found the opposition MLAs missing on the dais. Barring Margao MLA Digambar Kamat, none of the opposition Salcete MLAs turned up at the official function on Monday morning. Taking offence to the MLAs’ absence, an upset Sardesai stressed on the need to document Goa’s history so that the MLAs’ grandchildren would at least learn and explain the significance of the day to
their parents.
Minutes after the TCP Minister and officials left the Lohia Maidan, Congress leaders led by GPCC Chief Girish Chodankar, Leader of the Opposition, Babu Kavlekar, besides MLAs Luizinho Faleiro, Digambar Kamat, Clafacio Dias, Wilfred D’Sa, besides South district president Joe Dias and others descended on the maidan to pay tributes to the freedom fighters.
What’s significant to note is that the Congress leaders questioned the government’s wisdom to commemorate the main official function at Panaji when the movement against the Portuguese had started from Margao. Leader of the Opposition, Babu Kavlekar, said that the Governor and the Chief Minister should have commemorated the Revolution Day with the official program at the Lohia Maidan, Margao.
GPCC Chief Girish Chodankar also echoed similar sentiments saying the liberation torch was lit at the historic Lohia Maidan, saying the government should have held the state function at Margao befitting the occasion. “Lohia Maidan is a place of historic importance. It was from this place that the Liberation movement gained momentum and ended with Goa getting Liberated on December 19, 1961,” Girish said.
Saying that Lohia Maidan is a historic place, Margao MLA Digambar Kamat said he had fulfilled the demand of the freedom fighters for the Lohia memorial during his stint as Chief Minister in 2008.
Former CM Luizinho Faleiro recalled renovation of the historic place during his stint. He rooted for a befitting memorial at the Maidan where the Comunidade building stands for the benefit of posterity.
