TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Stating that the BJP President Amit Shah was not welcome in Goa due to the BJP government failure to stick to its promises, Goans for Dabolim Only (GFDO) questioned what had happened to the promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his election campaign of granting special status to Goa.
“A good number of Goans voted for the BJP candidate hoping that the people’s aspiration for special status would be fulfilled by the BJP government at the Centre. Yet in July 2014, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju rejected Goa’s special status demand saying that ‘it had not been found justifiable and hence not agreed to’,” said GFDO convenor Fr Eremito Rebelo.
“Despite the hype generated by the BJP governments both at the Centre as well as in the State, it is abundantly clear to the people of Goa that it has no compunctions on going back on their promises (made) to the people,” Fr Rebelo said.
GFDO in a statement issued on Thursday used the example of the government’s stance on Tiracol golf project and Mopa airport and said it was contrary to the statement of the BJP president made at party’s National executive meet in Bangalore that wherever the party is in power, it is working for the upliftment of the poor.
“There is a difference between empty sloganeering and actual ground realities. Here in Goa, Mr Shah’s so called ‘pro-poor’ government’s chief minister has openly extended support to the Leading Hotels’ Tiracol golf course project. Just like Mopa this is against the wishes of the people of Goa,” Fr Rebelo said.
Rebelo said that the BJP government had done several U-turns based on its manifesto promises. He sought to know whether water and electricity are luxuries and how the government can justify the steep rise in rate of these essential utilities.
“Why do poor people of Goa have to be bled to support and fuel the various welfare schemes conjured up by the BJP whose beneficiaries are mainly saffron supporters? Why does the BJP government hoodwink the people by lowering VAT on petrol and then brazenly go back on its election promise and hike it again?” Rebelo asked.
Rebelo feared that the BJP government was actively engaged in cornering community resources for the benefit of the rich and the powerful.
