Team Herald
PANJIM: Former Valpoi municipal councilor Ashish Kanekar, who contested the 2017 Assembly elections on the AAP ticket, has been appointed as President of Valpoi Block Congress committee that has been reconstituted.
In March the then Congress MLA from Valpoi, Vishwajit Rane, along with the block committee members had resigned from the party, protesting the party’s failure to form the government despite winning 17 seats. Rane and his supporters had later joined BJP and Rane is now the Health Minister in Manohar Parrikar cabinet.
In an order issued on May 2, State Congress President Luizinho Faleiro reconstituted the 105-member Valpoi block committee headed by Kanekar. The move comes ahead of by-polls scheduled in the constituency.
Kanekar, who lost the 2017 elections to Rane, joined Congress in April and is likely to be party’s face in the by-elections. Congress has a strong base in Valpoi and is gearing up to defeat Rane in the by-polls, in order to try and restore its tally of MLAs to 17.
Meanwhile, addressing the media on Wednesday, Congress Chief Spokesperson Sunil Kawthankar said that PWD, through a circular, has directed its work division offices not to tender any pre-monsoon works but instead engage their own labourers to carry out the necessary works.
“We strongly demand that PWD should review its decision as the workforce available with the department is not sufficient to undertake such a massive exercise,” he said.
He has also condemned Goa Forward Party’s statement supporting the coal berth expansion project of MPT.
