PONDA: The BJP suffered a minor jolt in Valpoi and Shiroda when some supporters decided to ditch the party to join its estranged partner MGP.
A prominent BJP worker and an Usgao panch Vijay Gaonkar on Saturday quit the party claiming that he was disillusioned with BJP “since it failed to bring all round development of Usgao and provide jobs to local youth during its five-year rule.”
He said he would contest the forthcoming election from Valpoi constituency on MGP ticket.
Addressing the media in Ponda on Saturday, Gaonkar said that he would soon join the MGP with around 1000 supporters and work for the defeat of BJP in Valpoi constituency.
He said that he joined the BJP during the 2012 elections and worked hard for its victory with the hope that after coming to power, the party would work for the all-round development of Usgao and also provide jobs for the local youth. “However, I am completely disappointed with performance of BJP during last four and half years. I was feeling suffocated within the party, but after quitting the BJP, I feel relaxed,” he said.
He said that Usgao is in need of a crematorium for migrants and Goans who have settled down in the village. But, he said, despite repeated requests for the same, the government failed to provide land for the crematorium.
Further, he said, in past there were around 200 jobs in a chocolate factory based in Usgao, which “I wanted for the local youth, but the government failed to engage with the factory to offer those jobs to the local youth.”
“The only thing the BJP has done is providing some government schemes to locals, which cannot be called as development,” he said.
Venting his anger at the government for failing to stop the practice of industries hiring the local youth on temporary basis, Gaonkar said, “I approached the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar requesting him to intervene and stop the practice and Parrikar assured me that he would to find a solution to the issue within three months, but then soon he was elevated as defence minister, so the issue remain unsolved.”
The job of sweepers and gardeners are permanent posts, but the companies have converted even these jobs as temporary posts, he lamented, adding “this is injustice to the workers”.
If the performance of the government on job front is abysmal, he said, on the development front it was pathetic.
“The Usgao old PDA market is on the verge of collapse. We submitted several memorandums to the government requesting it to either to demolish it and construct new one or handover the market to the panchayat for its maintenance. Our requests fell on deaf years. Now the vendors in the PDA market doing their business risking their lives,” he said.
Though Usgao falls in Ponda taluka, it is a part of Valpoi constituency. While AAP has declared Ashish Kanekar as its candidate, sitting MLA Vishwajeet Rane will be the Congress candidate. The BJP is likely to field Satyavijay Naik from Valpoi, even though he lost to Rane junior last time around.
Last week, MGP leader Sudin Dhavlikar told reporters at Valpoi that Vijay Gaonkar would be MGP candidate for the constituency.
When asked what would be his role if the MGP and BJP form an alliance, Gaonkar said he would work for alliance victory
In Shiroda, the BJP is facing open revolt with party workers, Shiroda Sarpanch and Panchawadi Sarpanch Ashok Naik opposing ticket to sitting MLA and Industries Minister Mahadev Naik.
Sandesh Prabudesai, a former BJP worker, hopes to contest from Shiroda on MGP ticket. Prabudesai claims strong support of MGP strongman Sudin Dhavlikar for his candidature.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Subash Shirodakar is hoping for victory this time, as there are many candidates in the fray including AAP’s Molu Velip.
