MARGAO: Aam Aadmi Party members, who had gone to Quitol to take part in the anti-Defence Expo protests, were bullied and booed away by the pro-DefExpo group, which shouted slogans against Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. The DefExpo supporters, including Quitol locals, also claimed that they owned the land and that they would decide what was good for their locality.
AAP Goa Secretary Valmiki Naik and another party member visited the site while Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar was interacting with the media after his visit.
As Parsekar proceeded to the Ajoba Temple, the AAP duo followed him and waited outside the temple. Before Parsekar could come out, Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral came up to them and asked them to leave and not to create a pile-up in front of the temple.
As Valmiki preferred to stay, the DefExpo supporters, including Quitol locals and BJP supporters, charged at him and his partner and booed them away. The episode took a bizarre turn when the supporters began shouting slogans like “Afzal Guru Murdabad” and “Pakistan Murdabad”, which gradually went on to “Kejriwal Chor Hai” and “Aam Aadmi Party Deshdrohi hai”.
A Quitol local ran up to Valmiki and said, “This is our land. We have lost our land here and we want the best use of this land and employment for our youth. You have no brief here.”
Another supporter shouted, “You AAP people don’t want any good to happen to anyone and are first to oppose projects that will benefit the people. This expo is for the benefit of the locals and we want it to happen.”
Another man from Quitol told Valmiki that he had lost a huge property during the acquisition and now he expected good benefits for his children in the form of employment, among other things.
