Launching a sharp attack on the BJP government, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Con vener Arvind Kejriwal said Goa was once known as the best tourist destina tion. Today, it is known for the Arpora incident. From top to bottom—officers to ministers—everyone knew about the illegal club. Such clubs run because they pay hafta. This is a ‘hafta vasooli sarkar’. He was addressing a pub lic meeting to support AAP ZP candidates Antonio Leao Fernandes (Colva) and Jo seph Pimenta (Benaulim).
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The large turnout demonstrat ed increasing public anger against corruption and rising faith in AAP’s service-based politics. When Kejriwal asked the gather ing if it was possible to get a job in Goa today without paying a bribe, the crowd responded with a loud ‘No,’ clearly reflecting the depth of corruption. He added, “If a common man wants to start a small shop, it be comes impossible. But illegal busi nesses are allowed freely if bribes are paid. Other parties’ MLAs earn crores once elected, but AAP’s MLAs are islands of hope. The people of Benaulim and Velim know their MLAs are honest and non-corrupt.” Addressing Congress workers and supporters, Kejriwal extend ed an open invitation: “I want to openly welcome all Congress work ers and supporters who are fed up with the repeated collusion of Con gress with the BJP. If you truly want to defeat the BJP and bring honest governance to Goa, only AAP can do it. This fight is not about parties, it is about saving Goa.” Attacking family-centric poli tics, Kejriwal asserted, “No family should run Goa—be it the Ranes or the Alemaos. Common people of Goa should run Goa.” AAP reiterated that the ZP elec tions are the first step towards ending corruption and building an honest Goa, appealing to voters to support AAP candidates to bring real change. AAP MLA Cruz Silva stated, “Peo ple want change in Goa — enough is enough. These ZP elections are the beginning of that change. Don’t fall for opportunistic alliances. AAP has been with the people from day one.” AAP MLA Capt Venzy Viegas em phasised that the elections will be fought purely on work and integ rity. “The only thing this election will be fought on is the work done by us in the last three-and a-half years. Our politics is the politics of service. We started free clinics and stood with people when the government failed them,” he said. Highlighting the success of the AAP governance model, AAP Goa President Adv Amit Palekar said: “The work done by our MLAs in Benaulim and Velim is AAP’s Goa Model—health care close to home, better roads, no gundaraj and no hafta. We will take this model to the entire State. I want to tell the previous MLA — come visit our clin ic, because after seeing our work, your BP must surely be high.”
