Team Herald
BICHOLIM: All India Congress Committee (AICC) leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that if elected to power the party will not allow Goa to become a coal hub.
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Charging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has divided the nation into ‘Amir Hindustan’ and ‘Garib Hindustan’ he assured to implement a ‘Nyay’ scheme providing every poor family of Goa Rs 72,000 annually, once the Congress forms the government.
Addressing a ‘Nirdhar’ meeting in virtual mode at Sanquelim, Gandhi on a day’s campaign tour, said that Goans should decide who will govern the State claiming that the Assembly elections will see a contest between the Congress and the BJP.
Referring to the issues concerning the State, he said that Goa is a tourist hub and thousands earn their livelihood from tourism. The Congress will not allow Goa to become a coal hub, he declared.
“Congress has always executed the things wished by the people. We do development by consent of the people and by taking them into confidence. But BJP has ruined Goa, killed democracy and has done destruction of environment by going against the wishes of people,” he said, assuring the gathering that if the Congress forms the government then it will be the government of Goans.
Gandhi said that he would talk to all stakeholders and decide upon the issues. He came down heavily on demonetisation and said that poor people suffered much. GST implementation also benefited rich people and small businesses suffered losses, he said.
Gandhi added that most of the schemes of BJP are benefiting rich people. “We don’t want such government. In Goa we will look at the benefits of poor people,” he said.
He said that under the ‘Nyay’ scheme, people will get Rs 6000 every month if they live in Goa. “Our focus will be on employment generation and Congress knows how to manage it. In Goa we have not given tickets to defectors,” he said appealing to the people to support the Congress to form a new Goa and new government.
Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat said that most of the development in Sanquelim constituency was done by the Congress. “Our government was government of prosperity and BJP’s government was of poverty,” he said.
GPCC president Girish Chodankar came down heavily on the BJP and alleged that jobs were sold by the government. He said that they are doing politics and are using delay techniques on resuming mining activity.
“Goans have done Nirdhar to throw out BJP and bring back Congress in the State. The State government is not run by the Chief Minister but by Central BJP leaders, so we have done Nirdhar to give Goans a Goan Chief Minister,” Chodankar stated.
AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, AICC Goa incharge Dinesh Gundu Rao, former Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane, South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha, former Minister Ramakant Khalap, Sanquelim Congress candidate Dharmesh Saglani and others were present.
