CANACONA: He may have come third in elections to the Canacona constituency, but Congress candidate Janardhan Bhandari has declared himself as the Shadow MLA in Canacona.
Seeking to erase the political divide, Bhandari has also stated that the Congress will not hesitate to join newly Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar in agitating against the government if the MLA did not get sufficient government support to develop Canacona constituency.Addressing a news conference jointly in the presence of Goa Forward Party leaders and Canacona block congress leaders, Bhandari said the State government should make the Canacona MLA a deputy chief minister or even a minister in the government.
“Now that elections are over, the elected candidate is the representative and MLA of Canacona. We will rally behind Canacona MLA in facilitating development and if the State government does not act on proposals of our MLA, we are even ready to join our MLA in agitating against the government,” said Bhandari.
He, however, warned Tawadkar to refrain from revenge politics.
“Our MLA should remember rivalries are over the moment elections got over. Just as we will provide unconditional support to our MLA, we will not tolerate any revenge politics by our MLA and I will function as the shadow MLA in Canacona. When works like roads are undertaken by the government, we will not only monitor the work, we will not allow any compromise on the quality of the project.”
Thanking the people for their support and votes, Bhandari promised to continue working for the people.
“Being an MLA is not as important or essential for me. But we want the present MLA to address the various problems faced by people regarding water, road and electricity as well as in matters pertaining to the economy, employment, tourism infrastructure, environment, garbage, health and women empowerment,” Bhandari said.
Earlier, Goa Forward Party leaders Vikas Bhagat and Prashant Naik as well as Canacona Congress Block President Prahlay Bhagat thanked the people of Canacona for giving over 5,000 votes to Bhandari and assured to remain with the people through thick and thin.
