HERALD: You were closely associated with Joseph Sequeira to oust Agnelo Fernandes in the 2012 Assembly polls, but your alliance with Sequeira fell apart in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. What went wrong?
LOBO: Joseph Sequeira is a very ambitious person. During the Assembly elections he wanted to get rid of Agnelo Fernandes, so he backed my candidature. He parted ways with me for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as the job was done i.e. to defeat Fernandes.
HERALD:You are now so politically opposed to your former friend Sequeira that whatever project he is initiates is opposed by you. Why?
LOBO:Joseph Sequeira cannot propose any development for Calangute village and no project can go ahead without the support and backing of the State government. Developmental projects are proposed and initiated by the MLA and I am the MLA of Calangute. So, the question of opposing the projects does not arise. I am for planned and sustainable development of the village of Calangute. Joseph Sequeira could not get along with any MLA including Tomazinho Cardozo, Suresh Parulekar, Agnelo Fernandes and to some extent late Srikant Malik.
HERALD:The business lobby and other tourism stakeholders are now reluctant to openly support either you or Sequeira, for fear of being victimized and harassed. Don’t you think this has severely affected business confidence in Calangute?
LOBO:I have never stopped anyone approaching the Calangute Panchayat or Joseph Sequeira for their personal or other works. I do not have anything personal against Joseph Sequeira or the panchayat body. Anyone is free to approach them.
HERALD: If the local MLA and the local panchayat do not agree on major issues, how will development take place in Calangute?
LOBO:We may not agree on many developmental works, but the major works initiated through the State government like the sewerage network, road widening, underground cabling, etc. will go on at any cost. Nobody will be allowed to stop the development initiated by the State government in Calangute village.
HERALD: Sequeira has claimed a moral victory after the BJP could not get more votes than the Congress during the Lok Sabha polls in Calangute. Also as Sequeira is now aligned with ex-MLA Agnelo Fernandes and a politician from a neighbouring constituency is also hoping to dethrone you, you think you will have trouble in the 2017 Assembly elections?
LOBO: Joseph and Agnelo together secured a lead of 100 votes. This cannot be called a moral victory for Congress. The 100-odd lead could also be due to Church lobbying very hard in Goa against Narendra Modi as Prime Minister of India. The people of Calangute constituency will certainly back me for my work and developmental projects that I have done and had not happened during the last 20 years. I am sure my work for the constituency and people will hold me good stead for the 2017 Assembly elections.
