PANJIM: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators have urged the government to honour the hero of the Opinion Poll, Dr Jack de Sequeira, by installing a life-sized statue of the leader at the State Assembly complex in Porvorim, next to the statue of the State’s first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar.
Speaking to media persons on Saturday morning, Environment Minister Alina Saldanha and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo hailed the government for recognizing Dr de Sequeira by releasing a commemorative philatelic special postal cover featuring Dr de Sequeira on Statehood Day.
“It is the BJP government that has recognized the contribution of Dr de Sequeira. It was he who fought not to merge Goa with Maharashtra. He was the Father of the Opinion Poll,” Lobo said demanding that Dr de Sequeira’s life-size statue be installed in the assembly complex to further honour him.
Saldanha also supported the move and said that the statue be installed next to statue of Bandodkar. “He was a leader who brought in the referendum to determine whether Goa should be merged with Maharashtra or not,” she said.
“It is due to the efforts of Dr de Sequeira that Goa remained a separate entity with its own unique identity,” she added.
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar Saturday morning released a commemorative philatelic special cover to mark the birth centenary of Dr de Sequeira, the first leader of the opposition of Goa Daman and Diu legislative assembly. There have been many demands from various sections to install Dr de Sequeira’s statue in the State since his birth centenary on April 20.
The Goa Assembly had in March 1994 passed a resolution to install a statue of Dr de Sequeira in the Assembly complex. The resolution had been proposed by the then Panjim MLA J B Gonsalves.
