PANAJI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Goa president Valmiki Naik on Wednesday hit back at Chief Minister Pramod Sawant over his remarks on AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s six guarantees to Goa, accusing the BJP of lacking the intent to implement welfare schemes if it returns to power.
Reacting to Sawant’s reported remark that parties not in power could promise to bring down stars from the sky, Naik said the Chief Minister’s response showed that the BJP was unwilling to offer Goans the benefits promised by AAP. “This statement proves that CM Sawant has admitted two things,” Naik said, that AAP’s guarantees could significantly benefit Goans and that the BJP lacked the capacity and intent to implement them if it returned to power.
AAP’s six guarantees include 300 units of free electricity for every household, annual health insurance coverage of Rs 10 lakh for every family, monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,000 for every woman aged 18 and above, free bus travel for women, sports playgrounds with kits and coaching in every village, and an end to alleged irregularities in land conversions under Section 39.
Naik said AAP delivered on its commitments in Delhi and Punjab, unlike parties that promise during elections but don't deliver. Citing Punjab, he claimed around 90% of households in the state received zero electricity bills under the 300-unit free electricity scheme. He contrasted this with Goa, where he said some households paid between Rs 4,000 and Rs 15,000 a month in electricity bills. “If an AAP government comes to power in Goa, people will get zero electricity bills,” he said.
Naik also criticised Goa’s Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSSY), claiming that enrolment had fallen from around 3 lakh families initially to approximately 1.38 lakh. He alleged that many families had declined to pay the Rs 300 registration fee because they did not consider the scheme beneficial. Questioning the introduction of help desks after 15 years of BJP rule and seven years under Sawant as Chief Minister, Naik said the government should address the scheme’s shortcomings. He claimed Punjab’s healthcare programme covered more than 100 procedures across hospitals and had benefited over six lakh families.
On women’s welfare, Naik said Goa’s Griha Aadhar assistance had remained at Rs 1,500 for more than a decade. He alleged that a woman BJP MLA had sought to raise it to Rs 3,000 at a recent meeting with BJP national organisational secretary B L Santhosh but was insulted for raising the demand.
Accusing the BJP of relying on pre-election handouts, Naik alleged that the government had borrowed Rs 700 crore within a month for such spending. He said voters might accept the assistance but would still vote the BJP out of power.
On sports infrastructure, Naik said Goa had considerable talent in football, cricket, volleyball and basketball but lacked adequate public facilities. He alleged that government-owned grounds were being used for tourism-related parking or commercial purposes, forcing parents to pay private institutions for access to sports facilities. He said AAP would provide playgrounds, sports kits and coaching in every village to help young people pursue sports professionally.
Naik also reiterated the party’s opposition to land conversions under Section 39, alleging that the mechanism had led to the destruction of hills and agricultural fields. Referring to Sawant’s recent podcast remarks that people had developed a habit of receiving government assistance, Naik defended welfare schemes as necessary support for families.
He said implementing all six guarantees would be a non-negotiable condition for AAP to support any non-BJP government after the next Assembly elections.
