NT NETWORK
PANAJI
Stating that long-term planning is the gift of the Bharatiya Janata Party to Goa, the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said that due to such planning, his party during its 8 year rule in Goa – which comprise only 14 per cent to 15 per cent period since Liberation of the region – could carry out 80 per cent of the developmental works witnessed by the state since 1961.
Addressing the Vijay Sankalp public meeting of the BJP, in the city, the Defence Minister said that the BJP governments in Goa would be remembered for the infrastructure development, which they carried out during their two tenures. “We constructed almost all the bridges in Goa, which have not collapsed, unlike those built by the Congress governments and have either collapsed or may at any time, due to their bad shape,” he quipped.
The Chief Minister, Laxmikant Parsekar, the Minister for water resources, Dayanand Mandrekar, the Calangute MLA, Michael Lobo, the city legislator, Sidharth Kunkalienkar, and the state BJP president, Vinay Tendulkar were also present on the occasion.
Speaking further, Parrikar said that the recent entry of Mauvin Godinho in BJP should not come as a surprise since Godinho was wholeheartedly with the BJP since BJP came to power in Goa, in 2012. “The same can be said about Pandurang Madkaikar, who is supporting the BJP for past six months and is about to join my party,” he added, pointing out, “However, the misinformation spread by a newspaper about impending entry of Ravi Naik in the BJP is totally false, and the newspaper should refrain from spreading such lies.”
Parrikar also deplored the behaviour of Dhavalikar brothers – Sudin and Deepak – stating that in spite of the code of coalition being followed by the BJP, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party leaders acted badly. “We made them ministers and allotted to them lucrative portfolios, still they badmouthed us,” he maintained, criticising them for demanding resignation of the BJP Chief Minister.
The Defence Minister further informed that the BJP’s Vijay Sankalp public meeting in the city is such 29th meeting in the state, and more than 1.50 lakh people have attended these meetings. Parrikar further appealed to the residents of Panaji to re-elect Kunkalienkar as the city MLA, this time with a margin of more than 5,000 votes. “Anything less would be considered as a no confidence against me,” he noted.
Parrikar, without naming the St Cruz MLA, Atanasio Monserrate, said that if anyone desires to commit political hara-kiri, then he can think about contesting from the Panaji constituency. “Panaji is the city of intellectuals, professionals and every voter in this city, who is a key voter would once again elect the BJP MLA,” he predicted.
Kunkalienkar and Tendulkar, in their speeches expressed confidence that the BJP would return to power in Goa by winning 26 seats. “Our next government would be the government working for the welfare of youth,” the city MLA said.