You have been into journalism for over a decade now. What made you to take a plunge into electoral politics under the Goa Su-Raj party banner?
I started my career in journalism in Indian Express and later moved forward with Goa Chronicle, which has been instrumental in exposing corruption of the previous and present governments in Goa. As a journalist, I realised that the desired change was not happening. I now believe that if any change has to come about, it has to come from within. If you want to clean the dirt in the wash basin, you have to put your hand inside it to clean it.
Goa Su-Raj party had tried to bring all regional parties under one banner to put up an united front. What exactly went wrong with the plan?
We had initially spoken to the Goa Democratic Front and other regional players, including the UGDP, but differences arose because GDF was pro-Mopa and though Goa Su-Raj was strong in the North, it had always adopted the anti-Mopa stand. Our party believes that the Navy should move to Karwar and hand over the land to Dabolim airport for further expansion. As far as South Goa was concerned, the UGDP said the presence of the regional party in the fray would split the secular vote. Hence the plan to bring together regional parties failed to materialize.
You are one of the candidates contesting the national elections on a regional party. Do you think a regional party will cut much ice with the electorate with the national parties going all out to woo voters?
I feel that only a regional party can serve Goan interests in Delhi. Say tomorrow, if the Congress or the BJP win two seats will Goa will be on the priority list of the two national parties? Burning issues such as special status and airport will continue to linger. Only the regional parties can work keeping interests of the state in mind. Even Congress candidate Reginaldo Lourenco and Independent MLA Vijai Sardessai would agree on the same thing.
What is your agenda before the electorate of South Goa?
First and foremost, the first major agenda of the Goa Su-Raj party is to get the Mopa airport scrapped. We have been demanding special status for Goa under Article 371 of the Constitution, besides reversal of the Gadgil formula, which discriminates against the state. I will take up resumption of sustainable mining and setting up of a mining corporation, wherein villagers are made stakeholders. We believe the mining industry should not be concentrated in
the hands of five families, but should be owned by mining-dependent people via a corporation. We will also take up issues concerning women, with a demand to constitute a panel of experts to define what is meant by rarest of rare case vis-a-vis rape.
