Team Herald
CALANGUTE: Agnelo Fernandes may be contesting against Jayesh Salgaocar of Goa Forward in Saligao. But his target today was the GF mentor Vijai Sardesai who he hit out against.
Speaking at a joint rally of the Calangute and Saligao candidates at the St Alex Church in Calangute, Fernandes said, “Sardesai talks of Goenkarponn, but he has sold so much land to people from Delhi. He also says he wants to keep the BJP out but in 2012 but he had offered support to the BJP government of Parrikar, which was not accepted.” Nor sparing his rival Salgaonkar, Fernandes said, “Salgaonkar is hobnobbing with Dilip Parulekar.”
On Michael Lobo, who he contested against in 2012 and lost, Fernandes said, “(Lobo) is a man with a vision, but he proposed no project for his constituency. The footpath work in Candolim was proposed by me; the sewerage project was proposed by me; I laid the foundation stone for the Arpora-Calangute bridge.”
Claiming that the garbage treatment plant in Saligao would be an ecological disaster, he said, with garbage being brought from all over North Goa, the place would soon become a source of disease since the land is ecological fragile.
Fernandes also slammed Lobo for not “uttering a single word” when the Income Tax department sent a letter to the Calangute church demanding disclosure of the number of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in its possession.
Meanwhile addressing the crowd, Calangute Congress candidate Joseph Sequiera said, “The government that we elected years ago has taken many U-turns. We never thought that Manohar Parrikar will ditch people of Calangute, but he did so. BJP polled 10,000 votes in Calangute, but gave jobs to only three people in the last five years. BJP has taken Calangute for granted. The ‘Man with a Vision’ has done only self development by beautifying different circles to promote his hotels. Roads are widened only at his hotels.”
“In the 2012 election his (Lobo’s) assets were Rs 12 lakh, but in 2017 his assets are Rs 49.50 lakh. Therefore, his vision is to collect money and not development,” he castigated.
