The whole issue is blown out of proportion. I definitely agree that the civic society should have behaved better, however by going on strike and holding the general public to ransom is unacceptable. I hold our elected councillors responsible for supporting such illegal strike and as Madgavkars we will not tolerate such act in the future, they will give a fitting reply. They caused inconvenience to the whole of Salete that comes to the municipality for certificates and other paper works. The general public will teach them a lesson soon.
— Dickson Vaz, activist
Councillor Damu Shirodkar is Digambar Kamat’s right hand man and his bother Anil Shirodkar is the president of the Margao Municipal Workers union who called this illegal strike, without prior notice, in support of Viraj Arabekar. The strike was politically motivated. The entire Digambar-Vijai connection is evident here to gain mileage and derail our movement. One MLA today couldn’t have done the job. This was a calculated move to paralyse a people’s movement.
— Rajeev Gomes, lawyer
This strike was unwarranted for and the city should not have been held ransom for such a silly matter by union workers. Videos clearly show that Viraj was on the wrong and that there was no over reaction from the general public.
— Savio Coutinho, former municipal chairperson
This was a pre-planned attempt by vested interest and it’s clear that Vijai Sardesai and other elements orchestrated the strike to divert attention from tender scam at the MMC.
— Nelson Fernandes, Restaurateur
The plan of the municipal workers was to frame us with blatant lies. Why did Viraj complain to the police instead of his chief officer or the chairperson? It’s obvious that the strike and its aftermath was a political game plan. The DMA should intervene and cancel all municipal workers salary for that six days striking period and then we’ll see their reaction.
— Croydon Medeira, businessman
