SANGUEM
A meeting was held at Kudchire, Rivona, on Sunday as part of efforts to unite the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community ahead of the upcoming Goa Assembly elections. The meeting was attended by former MLA Prasad Gaonkar, former Zilla Panchayat member Suresh Kepekar, Advocate Anand Gaonkar, aspiring Congress candidate Satyavan Gaonkar, and other prominent ST community members.
Addressing the gathering, Kepekar said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was working towards granting political reservation to the ST community and expressed confidence in the process. He appealed to community members to remain united in support of the demand.
Advocate Anand Gaonkar said that if political reservation was not granted, the ST community would field a single consensus candidate against sitting MLA Subhash Phal Dessai in the 2027 Assembly elections. He expressed confidence that an ST candidate would emerge victorious from Sanguem.
Speakers at the meeting reiterated the demand for political reservation and greater representation for the ST community in Sanguem. They urged members to remain united and not be influenced by any inducements. Several speakers said that if reservation was not implemented, the community would unite to defeat Phal Dessai in the next Assembly elections.
The meeting resolved to intensify the campaign for political reservation and field a single consensus ST candidate against Phal Dessai if the demand was not fulfilled. It was decided that the candidate would be chosen from among active ST leaders who have been leading the movement, with the community extending full support.
Meanwhile, aspiring Congress candidate Satyavan Gaonkar has already started holding corner meetings across the constituency and has put up several banners as part of his election campaign.
