Team Herald

MARGAO: During the campaign trail in Navelim Constituency on Friday, BJP’s South Goa candidate Pallavi Dempo attempted to underline and claim "how the BJP government at the Centre and State had worked on development with no discrimination against people’s backgrounds".

While Navelim MLA Ulhas Tuenkar spoke of how BJP has received support from voters of all backgrounds - be it religious, caste or otherwise in the constituency,

While interacting with voters at various locations in Navelim, she expressed her joy at the amount of love and support she was receiving from the people.

BJP leaders like Margao MLA Digambar Kamat and Haj Committee Chairperson Urfan Mulla also addressed citizens.

Interestingly, when media persons questioned Kamat or Dempo about criticism of the BJP and her candidature, both insisted that they will not speak negatively about anyone, adding that their only focus is ‘positive’ campaigning.

Kamat added that their campaign is on a national level, where they are talking about giving Prime Minister Narendra Modi a hattrick by getting him elected as the Prime Minister for the third term, and how the country has grown ‘leaps and bounds’ under his tenure. He claimed that the respect India has worldwide has also increased.

MARGAO: Indian National Congress leaders and workers in Navelim and Margao intensified their campaign efforts on Friday, rallying behind the INDIA Bloc candidate Captain Viriato Fernandes. Throughout the day, leaders of the INDIA alliance and Congress convened various corner meetings and engaged with party workers in Navelim and Margao constituencies.

Addressing the party workers, Captain Viriato Fernandes said Goa has failed with regard to law and order. “Under the BJP government, Goa has become the murder and rape capital, besides drugs capital. It is an insult to our forefathers who had united to protect the identity of Goa,” he remarked.

Fernandes urged the people of Goa to reject the current state of affairs and strive for a better future. He highlighted the importance of the upcoming second   opinion poll on May 7 as an opportunity for Goans to reclaim the vision of their forefathers and resist privatisation efforts, including the proposed privatisation of the South Goa District Hospital.

Viriato also alleged that Margao has gotten ‘a bad name’ because of MLA Digambar Kamat who defected from the Congress for personal gain.

“Now people have to decide if they want to go with the defectors, and the party that has destroyed Goa and Goans. This election is of a different type and it is important for Goa. The policies of the BJP government for the last 10 years, have brought amendments in different articles to suppress the constitution,” he alleged.

Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao remarked that the BJP had made a ‘mockery of democracy’ and made the life of the common man difficult. He called upon the people of Margao to vote wisely, and emphasised Captain Viriato Fernandes' potential to be Goa's voice in the Lok Sabha.

MLA Altone D'Costa stressed the significance of protecting Goa's identity and highlighted the vast difference between the INDIA alliance and BJP, citing Fernandes' longstanding service to the country and vocal advocacy for Goan issues.

Viriato also criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of propagating a Gujarat model that fosters inequality, enriching the wealthy while impoverishing the poor. “Rich become richer and the poor become poorer.