SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2024
Team Herald
MARGAO: Despite Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao appealing to Catholics to forgo their pilgrimage to Vailankanni to avoid missing out on voting in the Lok Sabha polls, hundreds of pilgrims boarded the weekly train to the Marian Shrine on the eve of polling.
Monday morning saw Catholic pilgrims boarding the weekly train to Vailankanni at Vasco and Margao railway stations. However, these pilgrims justified their journey by explaining that they had booked their tickets prior to the announcement of the elections.
According to Baban Ghatge, a senior official from the Konkan Railway, over a thousand passengers boarded the train, but could not confirm if all these pilgrims were heading to Vailankanni.
Ghatge clarified that this is a regular weekly train and not a special train sponsored by the government.
“We cannot say that all those who boarded the train are visiting Vailankanni, but they had booked their ticket long back,” he said. He, however, refused to provide details on the exact number of the passengers boarding the train on Monday.
Many, including members of the teaching faculty, opined that it would be challenging to visit Vailankanni once schools reopen, particularly due to difficulties in booking tickets.
It is pertinent to note that the Lok Sabha elections were declared on March 16, but the clash between the weekly train schedule on May 6 and the polling day in Goa was inevitable.
Hundreds boarded the train, including several families, who had seized the opportunity of school holidays to embark on a trip to Vailankanni.
Speaking to reporters, a teacher said that it was her first visit to Vailankanni. Justifying her decision, she said, “Very soon we will have a training programme, followed by school re-opening on June 4. Hence, we will not get an opportunity again if we avoid visiting Vailankanni this time.”
Another lady mentioned that they had put in hard efforts to secure the tickets and didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to travel to the Marian Shrine.
“We had booked our tickets much before the elections were announced and suddenly avoiding the visit meant financial loss, besides the opportunity,” she added.
