Team Herald
PANJIM: Stating that Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) should not be “underestimated”, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Wednesday sarcastically said that the party should not dream of winning the 2017 Assembly election by holding one public meeting or by waking up only during the poll year.
“I am very happy to see that one more party is added to the opposition for BJP but this does not mean that AAP should dream of winning the election in just eight months (election due in March 2017). They will have to work for at least five years to establish their base here,” Parsekar told media persons reacting to the AAP announcement to replicate Delhi model in Goa during the forthcoming State polls.
“Why should I underestimate them? But, AAP should not consider the crowd of 7000-8000, gathered for the public meeting, to be converted into voters. BJP also took more than 25 years to have a strong pillar in Goa. No party can grow overnight,” Chief Minister commented.
Parsekar said that in democracy every person has a right to move towards any political party.
Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal on May 22 had a massive public meeting in Panjim, attended by a crowd of over 10,000. The party announced to contest all 40 seats and appealed people of Goa to replicate the Delhi election model in Goa too.
“Opposition parties wake up only during election year and that should not be the case. They should work for years to build confidence,” Parsekar said, refusing to comment on whether he feels that AAP will have to fight to save their election deposit during the polls.
The ruling BJP has challenged AAP to save their election deposit in at least one of the 40 constituencies during the poll. The party claimed that they are left with no political opponents in the 2017 election.
