PANJIM: Congress on Saturday alleged that the assault on their workers by BJP karyakartas during the protest held over the Rafale deal controversy, was a “preplanned, government-sponsored” attack in collusion with police forces.
The BJP and Congress workers had a major scuffle on Friday evening during the protest march held by the former accusing ‘Rahul Gandhi of misguiding the nation on Rafale issue’. The situation remained tense for more than an hour on D B Marg with workers from both the parties abusing and flinging items at each other. FIRs have been registered against workers of both parties under various sections of the IPC.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) and Congress Legislative Wing (CLP) on Saturday afternoon held an emergency joint meeting and condemned the incident and demanded immediate action against the BJP workers and police officials, who failed in their duties. The party also demanded that the “false” cases filed against their workers be withdrawn immediately.
Addressing media persons after the meeting, GPCC president Girish Chodankar said that the attack was a preplanned, government-sponsored attack as the mob had participation of officials attached to the Chief Minister’s Office, Speaker’s Office and Cabinet Ministers. “It was a government sponsored attack which saw participation of two ministers – Vishwajit Rane and Mauvin Godinho. There was an OSD of the Speaker, PRO of CMO and others in the protest,” he said.
“It was an attack with support of police. Police gave a free hand to BJP to assault our workers. They did nothing to clear the mob even as the commuters were put to hardship with traffic blocked for nearly two hours,” Chodankar said.
The Congress leader said that the incident has exposed BJP’s ideology wherein, when they cannot face the truth, BJP always resorts to violence. “We follow Mahatma Gandhiji ideology and hence despite provocation from BJP, our workers did not resort to any sort of violence,” he said and added, “And BJP is following Naturam Ghodse ideology of violence, which they are known for.”
Chodankar said that BJP’s goondagiri has exposed their frustration. “Party is not able to digest its downfall and hence is frustrated. People of Goa are peace loving and they will teach BJP a lesson for their violence. BJP will not even win two seats in the coming Assembly election,” he said, adding, “Such acts were the reason for BJP’s defeat in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.”
The Congress leader claimed that Saturday’s incident reminded him of the Babri Masjid demolition violence.
Earlier, Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavalekar condemned the incident and demanded an apology from the BJP for causing inconvenience to the public during peak hours. “It is very unfortunate that the people who were meant to protect the law were seen breaking the law,” he said referring to presence of Godinho and Rane.
Former CM and Margao MLA Digambar Kamat said that the incident was an attack on democracy. “It was a preplanned, motivated target on Congress office. It was an attack on democracy,” he stated.
