Team Herald
PANJIM: In what could spark major controversy, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant on Monday said that absence of his predecessor and BJP leader late Manohar Parrikar during the campaigning for the upcoming elections will be compensated with his ‘asthi kalash’ programme helping the saffron party to win with huge margin.
Sawant was addressing the party’s gathering held to distribute urn of Parrikar’s Ashes to Mandals from all the 40 Assembly constituencies. Alike ex-Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ‘asthi kalash arpan’ programme, the ashes of Parrikar would be immersed across several rivers of Goa after travelling through all constituencies on Tuesday.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will attend the State government organized condolence meeting on March 28 at Kala Academy.
The four-time Chief Minister died on March 17 just over a year after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“We all need to work together to fulfill Bhai’s (Parrikar) dream and his one of the dream was to see Narendra Modi in the power in 2019 election,” Sawant said.
“We have to fulfil his (Parrikar’s) dream of seeing Narendra Modi as Prime Minister in 2019 election. Parrikar is not with us to address the election campaign. But there is no doubt that his ‘asthi kalash’ that will be touring the state will give us victory with huge margin for the election,” the Chief Minister said.
The Chief Minister said that alike Goa’s first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar, Parrikar will also be remembered for generations together for his work of uplifting the society.
“There not a single village in the State where he has not reached through his developmental projects,” Sawant said adding that Parrikar has also reached 99 per cent of the households through his Social Welfare schemes.
Sawant said that the Asthi Kalash programme has been organized on request of Mandal, who wanted the people, who could not make it to the funeral, to pay their last respect to the leader. “Bhai was not just BJP leader but he was leader of every Goan. He was loved by everyone across nation,” he said.
Sawant also announced to publish book on life and ideology of Parrikar. He said that the book, to be out in next six months, would be made available in schools, colleges and other educational institutions. “We just don’t want to keep bhai alive in infrastructure development he did, but also by adopting his ideology that State and nation comes first,” he said.
Party president Vinay Tendulkar said that kalash will travel to all constituencies and will be immersed in the river or ocean, on Tuesday evening.
