PANJIM: Goa Forward Party President Vijai Sardesai on Thursday urged Goenkars to defeat the BJP candidates in the Zilla Parishad elections, which will be held, on December 12.
Sardesai said that it is high time that the BJP is defeated in the State to #SaveGoaNow for posterity. The Dr Pramod Sawant government has cheated Goenkars on the issue of coal transportation, double-tracking and Mhadei.
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He further said that though the Opposition is united in the fight against coal, double-tracking and the Mhadei issue, Opposition parties should have come together and given an alternative to the voters for the Zilla Parishad elections.
In the absence of an alternative alliance and due to flagrant code violations and cheating and a pliant and inactive State Election Commission, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant is likely to use this Zilla Parishad elections to be seen as a stamp of approval of popularity for himself when in reality he is unpopular and hated,” said Sardesai.
“The way the Opposition united for the cause of the farmers in the country and against coal, double-tracking and Mhadei River water diversion in the State, in the same way the Opposition should have united to defeat the BJP in the Zilla Parishad elections. But in the absence of this unity, the intelligent voters will have to strategically vote for that candidate in their respective Zilla Constituency who is best placed to defeat the candidate of the ruling BJP or its supporting ally MLA.”
“The GFP chief said that Sawant is working as a middleman and forwarding agent for Adani and Jindal by facilitating transportation of coal from Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to steel plants in Karnataka. Around 12-15 million metric tonnes of coal and coke is imported via Goa’s Mormugao Port by steel units in Karnataka,” said Sardesai.
“The rail double-tracking is also being done to facilitate the transportation of coal from MPT to Karnataka, which will not only be a cause of massive pollution in the State but would also destroy the ecological balance and environment in the State,” he added.
“The Goa Tamnar Transmission Project at Mollem is being brought in to facilitate uninterrupted power supply to Mormugao Port in order to facilitate smooth transportation of coal from MPT to steel plants in Karnataka,” said Sardesai.
On the Mhadei issue, Sardesai said that Dr Pramod Sawant has already sold Mhadei to Karnataka which he considered much more than a mother to him. Sawant goes only to prostrate in front of his party leaders in New Delhi so that he can continue as the chief minister in Goa. Mhadei is sold, now our forests will also disappear.
He stated that even though the government has filed contempt petitions in the Supreme Court, Chief Minister Sawant doesn’t care whether the matter comes up for hearing or not. “He doesn’t even make an attempt to visit the Supreme Court registry or raise the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This clearly indicates that the chief minister was not only an agent for Adani and Jindal, but also an agent to sell out Mhadei River to Karnataka by conniving with Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar and Pralhad Joshi.
The GFP chief appealed to the voters fighting against coal transportation, double-tracking, Mhadei diversion etc to ensure that they vote against the BJP candidates.
“The time has come to #SaveGoaNow by voting against BJP,” said Sardesai. Sardesai however further said that the Goa Forward Party did not field candidates on the party banner since it believes that these grassroots bodies and organisations should not be politicised. Also these bodies have not been empowered by the State government making them toothless tigers!
