SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: Electioneering will soon start, but the core issues being raised by the people of Goa from nook and corners are taking a back seat. This is the cry of the people.
Except for a couple of casual mentions, there are no prominent issues concerning the people of the State that are being flagged. This is the refrain among ordinary Goans throughout the State.
In their manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Congress had made almost 52 assurances of which bestowing the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other backward Classes with their constitutional rights, jobs, electoral and police reforms, food security and Rights of LGBTQIA+ were prominently mentioned. Though Congress did not gain power there was an opportunity to place them before the government.
Anti-mining activist Rama Kankonkar said, “Goan issues have failed to make it to the coveted manifestos of the major political parties and the same is expected to continue now. The issues of the State like Mhadei, double tracking or the ST reservation issue deserve to be heard in
the Parliament.”
“We are elected to raise the issues of people in the Parliament and get funds for development. I have done my duties with devotion,” Francisco Sardinha, South Goa MP said.
Issues of Goa like the Portuguese passport and OCI issue, the Scheduled Tribes reservation issue, the impact of major Central projects on the lives of Goans have perennially remained unsolved with no mention in the Lok Sabha
Activist Roshan Mathias said, “Since we have only two MPs going to the Centre from Goa they are like a drop in the ocean. There have to be MPs who need to have a strong agenda and have to shine. They need to have a strong voice with regards to the issues concerning the polity of the State.”
Goa Green Brigade convenor Avertino Miranda said, “What are they (MP candidates) asking votes for? So many protests in Goa, we have not seen any of them supporting the problems plaguing the State.”
