Draws attention of his supporters to the harassment meted out to him by Congress
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Throwing a gauntlet at the Congress to prove that the party is communal, Goa Vikas Party supremo Mickey Pacheco on Tuesday said he is ready to withdraw support to the Parrikar government and stop campaigning for Narendra Sawaikar if they proved that the BJP is communal and anti-minority.
“BJP leader Shripad Naik has been representing the people of North Goa in the Lok Sabha for three terms now. Can the Congress prove that Shripad had worked against minorities during his tenure as MP? If they can answer in the positive, I am ready to withdraw support to the Parrikar government and also stop campaigning for the BJP”, Mickey said, while addressing a huge public meeting held at Nuvem village organised by him to support the candidature of Narendra Sawaikar.
On the contrary, he said the Congress had only meted out harassment to the minorities during their rule in Goa. Citing his own example, Mickky drew attention of his supporters how the Congress government had harassed him on false and trumped up charges against him.
Referring to the issue of communalism raked by the Congress, Mickky said the Parrikar government enjoys the support of 10 Catholic MLAs and wondered how the Congress can term the BJP government as communal. “Some people, whether they are Hindus, Christians and Muslims take benefits of the government schemes, but do not hesitate to talk about communalism only at the time of elections”, he said.
Addressing the huge meeting, Chief Minister Manohar Parirkar said a BJP government at the Centre will help the Goa government fulfil the demand for special status and get a financial package to tide over the mining crisis. In his address, Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza said the BJP is a party that takes everyone together. “We have in the Parrikar government people representing different religious groups and castes. The BJP is today projecting Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister though he belongs to the OBC”, he said, while slamming the Congress for raking up communalism only on the eve of elections.
NRI Commissioner Dr Wilfred Mesquita said the country is on the brink of economic disaster, even as he maintained that the Parrikar government did not discriminate any community while implementing the welfare schemes.
Impressed by the huge crowd at the meeting, Mesquita exuded confidence that party candidate Sawaikar will win the seat by a margin of 50,000 votes.
