PANJIM: Aam Aadmi Party, Goa, condemned Friday’s incident at the DefExpo site where their party volunteers were aggressively intimidated and manhandled by BJP workers.
Speaking to the media in Panjim, AAP Secretary Valmiki Naik said BJP workers were instigated by BJP MLAs Subhash Phal Desai and Nilesh Cabral in the presence of Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar. He said the BJP government is trying to cover up its failure in a high-handed manner. He said the BJP government has failed to take the local people into confidence before announcing projects. People are still unaware about the DefExpo and they are not even aware what it is, Naik said.
“During the visit of the Chief Minister to the DefExpo site, it was expected that he would address the genuine grievances of the people and sort out issues. However, not only did he refuse to stop and engage in a dialogue, the CM, despite being Home Minister, remained a mute witness to the intimidation and manhandling unleashed by his own MLAs,” Naik said.
Naik said it was only the timely intervention of the Goa Police that avoided any serious harm being inflicted on AAP volunteers.
AAP said that development of the local area has been ignored for decades, and villagers have to travel long distances for basic needs such as healthcare, education and jobs. “Despite having land and resources that are already acquired by the government why won’t the government address these issues instead of trying to sweep its failures under the carpet and isolate a high-profile event like the DefExpo?” AAP asked.
