CM urges voters to back BJP for ‘triple-engine govt’, predicts big win for candidate
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant joined party leaders to drum up support for BJP’s Guirdolim ZP candidate Gokuldas Gaonkar at a meeting in Balli.
MARGAO
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant launched his campaign for the South Goa Zilla Panchayat from the Guirdolim ZP seat, which falls under Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao’s Cuncolim Assembly constituency, on Thursday.
His message to the people of the Guirdolim ZP constituency was clear – vote for the BJP in the December 20 polls and pave the way for the party to regain the Cuncolim and Quepem Assembly seats in the 2027 elections.
Sawant expressed confidence that BJP candidate Gokuldas Gaonkar would win the Guirdolim seat by a margin of 1,500–2,000 votes. His decision to kick-start the South Goa ZP campaign from Guirdolim is seen as significant, given that the constituency falls within the Opposition Leader’s Assembly segment, and considering that the BJP had won the seat in the 2020 ZP polls. The party is now making an all-out effort to retain it.
Apparently referring to the recent decision of sitting Guirdolim member Sanjana Velip and her husband Sanjay to quit the BJP and join the Congress, Sawant said he did not wish to comment on those who left the party “for selfish interests”. He, however, expressed confidence that BJP workers had stayed loyal and that the people would “teach them a lesson”.
Making an impassioned plea, the Chief Minister urged voters to support the Lotus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and his government so that the remaining development works in the State can be completed. He stressed that a BJP victory in the Zilla Panchayats was essential to bring a “triple-engine government” to power in Goa. “Right now, we have a double engine at the Centre and in Goa. If both Zilla Panchayat seats go to the BJP, we will have a triple engine. This will accelerate development across the State,” he said.
With just a year left for the 2027 Assembly elections, Sawant said that the victory of Gokuldas Gaonkar in Guirdolim would pave the way for the defeat of Congress MLAs Yuri Alemao in Cuncolim and Altone D’Costa in Quepem. He also expressed confidence that former Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar would regain the Quepem seat in 2027.
CM uses Mhaje Ghar pitch to rally support for BJP
MARGAO: The Mhaje Ghar scheme came in handy for Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to drum up support for the BJP in the upcoming Zilla Panchayat polls, when he promised the intended beneficiaries that the government would make their illegal houses their very own before the 2027 Assembly elections.
While addressing the election meeting of BJP Guirdolim ZP candidate Gokuldas Gaonkar at Adnem-Balli on Thursday, the Chief Minister also gave a call to the people to teach the Congress a lesson in the husting for opposing the Mhaje Ghar scheme.
In fact, the Chief Minister urged the people to fill up the Mhaje Ghar forms at the earliest, promising that the houses they are staying will be theirs before the 2027 elections.
The Chief Minister tried to turn the tables against the Opposition especially the Congress for opposing the Mhaje Ghar scheme. “I do not understand why the Congress MLAs were so disturbed if the poor Goans were getting their houses legalised by the Mhaje Ghar scheme. This government is working for the welfare of the poor and the downtrodden,” he said.
That’s not all the Chief Minister singled out Congress MLAs Yuri Alemao and Altone D’Costa for opposing the scheme. “These people are having hotels and bungalows, but the Mhaje Ghar scheme was meant for the downtrodden. The two MLAs opposed the scheme and rushed to the well of the House. They did not listen to my plea for discussion on the Bill. When they come to you now for votes, question them on their opposition to the Mhaje Ghar scheme and teach them a lesson in the coming election,” he asserted.
Electorates’ mood favours BJP sweep in ZP polls: Sawant
MARGAO: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said that the BJP will win both the North and South Goa Zilla Panchayat seats in the December 20 election.
He said he has so far travelled from Pernem to Balli to drum up support for the party candidates, saying that mood of the party workers and the electorate shows people want a return of the party at both the North and South Goa Zilla Panchayats.
when the media questioned him how many seats the BJP is expecting to win the ZP polls, the Chief Minister shot back, “All I can say for the moment is that the Chairpersons of both the North and South Goa Zilla Panchayats will be from the ruling BJP.”
