Resigns from BJP along with sarpanchas, p’yat members; to join GFP on Monday
MAPUSA
Former Tivim MLA, Kiran Kandolkar on Saturday labelled the Pramod Sawant-led government as the most corrupt and accused the BJP-led government of selling Mhadei to Karnataka while announcing his resignation from the primary membership of the BJP.
He also underlined the need to form an alliance with opposition parties to defeat the BJP-led dispensation in the State.
“A lot of original BJP karyakartas are disillusioned. This BJP-led government has ditched them and converted the BJP into a Congress-ism. The party and the government forced us to resign BJP which was nurtured and brought up by late Manohar Parrikar,” said Kandolkar, while addressing a news conference in Mapusa.
The former Tivim MLA said that along with him several sarpanchas and panchayat members and a number of workers resigned from the party and will join the Goa Forward Party on Monday.
Out of seven panchayats in Tivim constituency five panchayats – Tivim, Sirsaim, Assonora, Camurlim and Revora – owe allegiance to Kandolkar.
The former MLA has said on many critical issues like double-tracking of railway ostensibly for transportation of coal, felling of trees in protected areas in Mollem, diversion of the waters of the Mhadei River which is the lifeline of Goa and the IIT project, the State government has bulldozed its way without listening to the views of the people of Goa.
“The gross mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic and complete disregard to the orders of the Lokayukta showed that the government was shielding the corrupt,” he said.
The former MLA disclosed that in the interest of the State he shelved the idea of forming a new party and decided to join Goa Forward Party which was a young party concerned about Goa and Goans.
“The dynamic leadership of Vijai Serdesai appealed to me. I have seen his working style very closely and I feel Goa will be safe under his leadership,” Kandolkar said.
He also said that he will nurture both the Tivim and Aldona constituencies and will contest in one of them.
“Kandolkars will contest in both the constituencies,” he said to a specific query of The Goan indicating that his wife may contest from the Tivim constituency.
He said people of Goa were fed up with national parties and there will be a change in political equations in the State.
“BJP will be reduced to a single digit while local flavour will rule the roost in 2022,” he said.
‘Lobo will never be CM by remaining in BJP’
MAPUSA: Former Tivim MLA Kiran Kandolkar said Ports Minister Michael Lobo can be chief minister of Goa but will never become one by remaining in BJP.
“Lobo can definitely be the CM of Goa. But to do that, he will have to get out of BJP,” Kandolkar said.
He also said that 2020 was a bad year for the people of Goa and the people of India but it was a good year for the BJP-led government in the State.
“It was an excellent year in terms of making money during the ongoing Covid pandemic for the BJP-led government in the State,” Kandolkar alleged.
He was responding to Lobo’s taunt that this year was a bad year and that Kandolkar should not have quit this year.
