Team Herald
MAPUSA: The Aam Aadmi Party has pledged to wipe out corruption and put the corrupt Congress and BJP politicians behind bars, if it wins the ensuing 2017 assembly elections.
Addressing a public meeting at Mapusa on Sunday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP and the Congress of having a friendly completion thus far by striking secret deals. Therefore, he said, the people did not have an option, but now, with the AAP in the fray, he said, people have an option to choose from and that option is AAP. He exhorted the people to elect the AAP to bring a change in Goa.
Quoting sources Kejriwal said that the government was collecting Rs 4000 crore as tax from casinos, but it shows only Rs 200 crore as revenue receipts from the gambling industry. “This is shows how corrupt the BJP government is,” he said.
“The BJP has no intention of developing Goa; lack of funds is just an excuse. During the 2012 elections, the party had promised to remove casinos but after coming to power, the government forgot about it,” he said.
Kejriwal reminded the people how, during the 2012 elections, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar went door to door telling the people that the Shah Commissions had unearthed Rs 35,000 crore mining scam committed by Congress. But after coming to power, he did not order any enquiry and put no corrupt politician behind bars, he pointed out.
“The Congress and the BJP are two sides of the same coin,” he said.
Kejriwal promised that “If any AAP candidate is corrupt or found doing corruption after coming to power then, he will be the first one to go behind bars. AAP promises to give Rs 5000 per month to unemployed, will create 50,000 jobs in all sectors, old age pension will be increased from Rs 2000 to 3000, Ladli Laxmi scheme money will be increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh and griha adhar from Rs 1500 to Rs 3000 by wiping out corruption completely.”
State convener Elvis Gomes alleged that he has been linked to the Housing Board to lower his image. “But I am ready to fight at any level,” he said.
Dr Oscar Rebello said that there will be change in Goa when AAP comes to power, “because it is the common man who will come to power. This time people will not vote for the candidate but will vote for themselves.”
Present on the dais were Mapusa candidate Shradha Khalap, Tivim candidate Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar, Calangute candidate Godwin Fernandes, Aldona candidate Ursala D’Souza, Porvorim candidate Rajesh Valvaikar and Rahul Mhambre.
