Team Herald
PANJIM: Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Goa moved a resolution opposing the installation of a statue of Dr Jack de Sequeira at the Assembly Complex, differences in opinion continue within the party.
BJP’s lone woman MLA Alina Saldanha supported the erection of the statue stating, “I feel that the statue of Dr Jack de Sequeira should be installed alongside former Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar’s statue in the Assembly complex.”
The Cortalim MLA, along with some other Catholic MLAs, had favoured installation of the statue suggesting it could come up as that of the first Opposition Leader, if not as that of the Father of the Opinion Poll.
Aldona MLA Glenn Ticlo has, however, placed the ball in the Speaker’s court maintaining that it is the prerogative of the Speaker to take a decision. “I am with the government and will stand by what it decides. The decision on erecting Dr Jack de Sequeira’s statue is the prerogative of the Speaker,” he said on Wednesday.
Former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has preferred not to air his views in public. “Whatever is spoken at the party meeting is within the four walls. I have given my stand and stick by it,” he said, and took a dig at Goa Forward Party’s Trajano D’Mello on shifting loyalty during elections. “I don’t change stances on issues and speak different versions to different groups,” he added.
