TEAM HERALD
NEW DELHI: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday claimed at the 2-day national council meeting of the Bhartiya Janata Party that his government has fulfilled 80 per cent of the poll promises given in the party’s manifesto for the Assembly elections.
He also rubbished the propaganda that the BJP is an anti-minority party, pointing out that the BJP has more minority MLAs than the Congress in his state. The BJP has six as against four of Congress and three-four of them are the ministers, he said.
Parrikar was first to speak after the presidential address of Rajnath Singh. He then rushed to the airport to catch the flight to be in time for the inauguration of the Lusofonia Games.
He turned up at the Ramlila Grounds with just a half-sleeve bush-shirt while everyone else was in the heavy winter gear because of the severe cold and winds after the overnight heavy rains that resulted in water pools at many places at the venue. A volunteer provided him a shawl but he kept it aside, acknowledging it with thanks.
Parrikar disclosed the steps he took to deal with the price rise “due to the central government’s wrong policies” and as such the onion sold in Goa at Rs 30 to 40 a kilo when it was Rs 100 a kilo in Delhi. He said his government has ensured that the Goans get the vegetables and fruits at reasonable rates.
Further to help the families tackle the inflation, some three lakh married women get Rs 1000 a month, the chief minister said. He claimed 70 per cent of people in Goa get some or other benefit of the government schemes while the senior citizens and widows are provided a pension of Rs 2000 to Rs 3500 per month.
