TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Congress has decided to project five major issues pertaining to Goa in its national manifesto, which include special status for Goa and finding a solution to restart legal mining in the State.
The party will not have a separate manifesto for Goa and include other issues such as resolving the dual citizenship issue, drugs being sold under guise of tourism and deteriorating law and order situation, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President John Fernandes told the media.
The local unit has requested the INC to incorporate Goa-related problems in its main manifesto and these would be circulated among the electorate as a part of parliamentary poll campaign for the two seats.
“We won’t release a separate manifesto for the two parliamentary seats in Goa. Instead, we have requested the central committee to include Goa-related issues in the main manifesto. These are very important issues,” Fernandes told reporters followed by a meeting of the present and past legislators and office bearers at GCCI on Thursday morning.
The meeting also attended by North Goa candidate Ravi Naik and Leader of Opposition Pratapsing Rane was held to chalk out a campaign strategy for the polls in the district.
“We have to expose the government’s lies and U-turns on several issues. People in Goa have given us a mandate to sit in the Opposition and we cannot let them down,” Fernandes said.
Naik, who addressed his party members for the first time after being nominated as the candidate for North Goa, has called upon the people of Goa to vote for the party in both constituencies.
He also said that as part of his strategy the party will meet people house-to-house even as block presidents, seva dal, Youth Congress, women cadre of the party and other local units have been assigned jobs in each of the 20 constituencies during the campaigning.
