Team Herald
VASCO: Accusing the Congress and the BJP of looting Goa, Delhi Chief Minister and National Convenor of Aam Admi Party (AAP), Arvind Kejriwal, on Saturday, said the time has come to have a “Delhi Model” in Goa to achieve all round development.
Addressing a public meeting at Vasco, he said, “Since the last two years AAP is running the Delhi government and during this period we learnt one thing – that there is no crisis of funds with the government and thus in every project we saved money. Today, all that the AAP government saved was efficiently used for creating public amenities in Delhi. In Goa, BJP and Congress have looted public money by escalating project costs and thus it’s time to have ‘Delhi model’ in Goa and we promise that even Goa will have good schools and hospitals like Delhi and all those who have looted Goa will be jailed like we did in Delhi with our own leaders.”
He said there is a clear divide between AAP and rest of the parties. “We are honest and they are ‘thieves’,” he said.
He said that 90 percent of AAP candidates have never contested any elections due to which many feel that AAP has fielded lightweight candidates. “Those who say that we have lined up politically lightweight candidates I want to tell them ‘don’t underestimate the power of a common man and people of Goa have decided that they want to defeat these corrupt politicians and send the common man to the Assembly,” he said.
“I have selected each candidate after complete profiling. I can give guarantee about AAP candidate contesting Goa polls are having good character, they are non-communal and have no heinous criminal case against them. If anyone comes with a strong prima facie evidence on all such aspects against any candidate then I guarantee that within 24 hours AAP will drop the candidate,” he added.
Kejriwal also alleged that the BJP government’s decision to declare coconut tree as grass was to help a beer factory project promoted by Delhi-based Vani Agro Farms Pvt Ltd (VAFPL). “I now promise to the people of Goa that within three days of forming government in Goa, AAP will revoke this decision and will give back the coconut tree its original status.”
AAP’s Chief Ministerial candidate Elvis Gomes expressed confidence that AAP would win all four seats in Mormugao taluka. He said an AAP government will decentralise the powers of municipality so that no one can control the municipal affairs with a remote control.
He assured that after becoming the Chief Minister his first priority would be to take up developmental works in Vasco.
AAP’s candidates Olencio Simoes from Cortalim, Karl Vaz from Mormugao, Vasant Naik from Dabolim and Dr Oscar Rebello slammed BJP for its U-turn on 2012 poll promises and appealed to the people of port town to get AAP candidate elected.
