MARGAO
A day after the Goa Dhangar Samaj slammed him over some statements directed at the community, Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa on Monday charged certain politicians for trying to misguide members of that community for vested interests.
In another development, members of the scheduled tribe community from the Quepem constituency rallied behind the Quepem MLA, accusing former MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar of giving a twist to the speech made by the current MLA to further his political interests.
“If you see the video going viral, I have not spoken anything against any community or members. I have also narrated the fox and the sheep story; how the fox comes to devour the sheep. I have only told them to be alert, but nowhere have I spoken against any community or caste,” Altone told the media.
Saying some politicians have the habit of misguiding and misinterpreting statements, Altone said the offended Dhangar community members should point out how he had targeted them. “The community should realize that such politicians are only using and exploiting them for their political ends. The same MLA could not even provide a road for the community at Barcem for the last 22 years,” the MLA said.
Meanwhile, a group of ST community members, including a Sarpanch, panch members and former sarpanchas from the Quepem constituency rallied behind Altone after the row erupted. These members of the ST community gave a clean chit to the Quepem MLA, saying the MLA said nothing against the Dhangar Samaj or their members.
They also demanded to know where was the former Quepem MLA Kavlekar and the Dhangar Samaj when the ST Community under UTAA had launched an agitation for the implementation of the charter of their demands. “Where were Kavlekar and the Dhangar Samaj when two ST youths, Manguesh Gaonkar and Dilip Velip, died in the 2011 agitation? I was amongst those who were jailed for participating in the Balli agitation. We did not see Kavlekar supporting the ST community in that agitation,” said former sapranch Mallu Velip.
