Joshua to carry his father’s legacy forward

Team Herald

MAPUSA: The former Mapusa MLA’s son, Joshua D’Souza who vouched to live up to his father’s legacy and serve the people at his father’s funeral will now do after his narrow win on Thursday.

One can recall that Joshua, in a farewell speech, spoke about the person his father was and the loss suffered by the family.

"We will be his legacy and carry it on further with pride and grace the way he wanted it. I will continue to serve the people of the Mapusa the way he did. My father was a man of the people unlike others. He was always there for the people of Mapusa. All he wanted was to get better and back on his feet only for the people," stated Joshua in his farewell speech three months ago.

It was a dream come true for the D’Souza family as BJP won the by-elections in Mapusa and retained the seat.

Many opine that his late father’s name was a big plus point for him in the electoral battlefield. Few feel that his victory is to be celebrated while others felt that Mapusa will not witnesses any change under the BJP regime.

The President of North Goa District Congress Committee, Vijay Bhike, thanked the voters for supporting the party in Mapusa. “This is the first time we have got such a huge turnout and response. People are not happy with the results in Mapusa and this can be seen from the sleek margin by which BJP has won. The huge chunk of voters who were earlier supporting BJP voted for us which shows that people are not happy. He has won only because he had the support of the 18 councillors, Chief Minister and other MLAs who worked for him,” said Bhike.

The Aldona BJP block President, Franky Carvalho, opines that Joshua won due to the party’s stronghold in Mapusa for the last 25 years. “Joshua won as he had to his advantage his late father’s personal work done towards the people of Mapusa. Not denying the fact that the BJP has strong cadres who worked for the election which no other party can match with,” said Carvalho.

Gauresh Keni, a local from Mapusa and a social activist, feels that the original Mapxekars are not happy with the victory of BJP. “With the victory of Joshua it is a clear sign that nothing will change in Mapusa and things will remain the same as earlier. In fact I feel things will get worst over the next few years. It is a very sad day for those who voted for a change in Mapusa,” said Keni.

Another resident of Mapusa, Andrew D’souza highlighted that there is no BJP wave in Goa and Joshua has won due to sympathy votes. “From the fact that the sitting MP in south Goa was defeated it clearly can be seen that people did not want BJP to win. In the two other seats the margin was very narrow and could have gone the either way. Our results in Goa was not like the rest of the country where they were landslide victories,” said Andrew.