Team Herald
PONDA: Announcing that MGP will field candidates in 18 Zilla Panchayat (ZP) constituencies for the polls, MGP President Deepak Dhavalikar on Thursday said they are open to an offer from Congress to form an alliance for the ZP elections.
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“People are unhappy with the government as it has failed to solve mining, Mhadei and unemployment problems. The people are wise and know that BJP’s governance is a failure and it is just creating an illusion of solving issues affecting Goans,” said Deepak.
He was speaking to reporters at MGP’s Ponda office, after welcoming into the party former Curti Khandepar Sarpanch Priya Babu Chari and forty of her supporters. Chari and her supporters were BJP workers.
When asked whether he received any offer from Congress to fight the Zilla elections jointly, he answered in the negative. “So far, we have not received any offer of alliance from Congress. However, if Congress offers to form an alliance, we will consider it. This alliance can happen as in politics anything can happen at any time,” he said.
Castigating the BJP for “making political accommodations to their supporters and workers”, he said, “There is no need for two deputy chief ministers in a small State like Goa and that, too, from the ruling party itself.”
Accusing the government of reserving ZP seats “arbitrarily to facilitate the BJP supporters win the election”, he said, “The seats having majority ST voters are reserved for OBC and vice versa. Shiroda and Priol seats are reserved without considering the category of voters in majority.”
To a question whether reservation would affect MGP’s prospects at the elections, he said, “Reservation will not affect MGP. We will win the election comfortably.”
He said that MGP had won at five places at the last ZP elections and this time the party is “hoping to win at least 12 seats. MGP will publish the list of candidates in two or three days.”
Meanwhile, when asked why she joined the MGP, Priya Chari said that she left the BJP as the party failed to carry out developments and give jobs to locals.
