MARGAO
Aam Aadmi Party ST Wing President Rajesh Gaonkar on Monday demanded that the BJP government provide the ST community a weekly update on the progress on political reservation of ST community in Goa.
Gaonkar stated that the BJP should not play with the sentiments of the ST community and ensure reservation and announce reserved Assembly seats soon. He also warned the BJP and its ST community leaders that if reservation is not brought in this election cycle the ST community will hold them personally responsible and never forgive them.
Addressing the media, Gaonkar pointed out that the ST community has been demanding reservation for at least 15 years so far only to be stonewalled. He said that it is the duty of the BJP govt to ensure reservation takes place before this election cycle and that proper representation of the ST community is required.
He warned the BJP against any delay tactics and asked whether by not conducting a census was the BJP planning to leave the field open for people to challenge the reservation decision in court. He pointed out that during the Ponda By Election it was people connected to the BJP who approached the courts to get the election cancelled. He asked why no timeline has been given to the census commissioner to prepare his report on the issue.
Warning the BJP against any tricks to protect their existing MLAs by sacrificing ST reservations would anger the community & that declaration of ST seats needs to be immediate. He also told BJP ST leaders that if reservation is not granted by the BJP Govt they will be held responsible.
Gaonkar also pointed out that despite former BJP minister Govind Gaude himself highlighting the corruption in Shramik Bhavan and a mismatch between allocated funds and activities the BJP has not conducted a single activity into the issue.
He demanded that the BJP provide weekly updates on the progress of the ST reservation in the state, and that declaration of ST seats must be a priority, adding that BJP should not play with ST community's sentiments.
