PANAJI
As the year 2024 draws to a close, opposition leaders in Goa are reflecting on the political landscape, assessing the government's performance, and highlighting the issues that have dominated the public discourse.
While the ruling BJP government has continued with its plans and projects, the opposition parties argue that it has been a year marred by corruption, poor governance, and the destruction of the state's unique environment.
Leaders from Congress, AAP, and other parties are pointing to the failures of the Pramod Sawant-led government and asserting that the people of Goa are increasingly aware of these shortcomings.
Congress State President Amit Patkar took the opportunity to criticise the BJP government for its continued involvement in corruption and the large-scale destruction of Goa. He highlighted what he described as "unabated, largescale conversion of land" and the government's alleged complicity in multiple scandals, including the jobs-for-cash scam and the massive land-grabbing scandal.
"Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and all his ministers and partymen are presiding over the demise of governance and rule of law in the State. For us as the Opposition, the Congress has scored extremely well highlighting the failures of the government wherever things are going wrong," Patkar said.
"The people of Goa rewarded us with the electoral victory in the Lok Sabha elections giving a thumping win for our candidate Captain Viriato Fernandes in South Goa," the Congress leader added.
AAP MLA Venzy Viegas, who represents the Benaulim constituency, described the year 2024 as a "rewarding" one for the opposition.
"This year has been rewarding and the people too have given us (AAP and the United Opposition) their stamp of approval in the stupendous victory of our South Goa candidate Captain Viriato Fernandes in the Lok Sabha. In that victory, the biggest leads given by people in our two AAP-represented constituencies, my own Benaulim and Cruz Silva's Velim, was also satisfying," Venzy remarked.
He emphasised that the party was not only active in political battles but also making tangible progress in constituency development.
"Personally, in my constituency, I managed to put into practice some facilities in healthcare like the vision clinic providing free cataract operations, upgrade of the sub-health centre with a 2-bedded dialysis unit, etc. Several other infrastructure-related work was also possible. We will continue to work hard for people's welfare," the AAP MLA said.
He also echoed concerns about the pervasive corruption within the government, citing the jobs-for-cash scandal and the ongoing land-grabbing activities as prime examples of the administration's failures.
"I am very worried about the overall situation of the State with the government faring poorly on several fronts. The large-scale destruction of Goa continues with the indiscriminate conversion of land for big-ticket real estate projects like Bhutani in Sancoale, Lodha's in Bicholim and DLF in Reis Magos besides all-pervasive corruption in the administration exposed through various scams like jobs-for-cash, land-grabbing, etc."
