VASCO: BJP Minister and Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha on Monday said that the issue of special status will not end until the issue is taken up by Parliament, debated and voted upon and that she will not stop pursuing the issue.
“After Matanhy Saldanha passed away, I have taken the responsibility for special status and even Goa Movement for Special Status (GMFSS) has been taking the cause forward. Though I am not a member of the executive committee of GMFSS, however, being Matanhy’s widow, they had requested me to be with them and 100 percent I will be with GMFSS,” she said speaking to the media while announcing the Vijay Sankalp Melava in Cortalim.
Last week, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar had ruled out the possibility of the State getting special status and had said, “Special status cannot be given to Goa as the State tops in all the fronts.”
Asked why in past she had stated that she would resign if special status is denied to Goa, she said, “At that point of time, I was still naive. Out of my own conviction, specifically and precisely because a unanimous resolution was passed by the ruling and the opposition that special status has to be granted I felt the issue will be taken forward. I was sure that this is going to happen and I still believe the same,” she said.
She added that she had spoken to the South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar on the issue and was told that he is still pursuing it with the Centre. “Until the issue is taken to Parliament and until there is a debate and voting on the issue, I will not stop pursuing it. For me the issue has not come to an end, it is still an ongoing issue because it has not reached Parliament,” she said.
Questioned as to whether she would be taking up the issue or assure the people on special status though her election manifesto for 2017 Assembly polls, she said, “We have not yet come to the stage of putting our election manifesto together, though we have been collecting different needs of people. I will pursue the issue till a final decision is taken in Parliament.”
