PANJIM: The turbid waters of the Mandovi and the coal dust clouds of Vasco were the backdrop for the launch of the campaigns of the two Congress Lok Sabha candidates.
While most politicians sought divine blessings in temples and churches, as they began reaching out to the people for their votes, Girish Chodankar in the North, accompanied by priests from different religions, went to the banks of the River Mandovi seeking the blessings of the Mhadei, while in the South, Francisco Sardinha first reached out to the people engulfed by the coal dust in Vasco, before going elsewhere.
“We want to fight this election on issues and against the idea of hate. We will unite people and not divide them on the basis of religion, caste or creed. Starting my campaign by seeking the blessings of Mhadei is not just a symbolic gesture but it is our endeavour to attract the attention of the people on the ideology that has divided society. Mhadei water has been serving everyone regardless of the background,” Chodankar told Herald.
He emphasised that the Mandovi has suffered over the years and it has been neglected. “River nationalisation is an issue that the Congress has been fighting and we will highlight the issue again. Secondly, Mhadei is the lifeline of Goa and it cannot be left to die with pollution,” he added.
Speaking about Sardinha’s campaign, Chodankar said that coal pollution is the most important issue in the South. “Coal pollution is affecting thousands of lives and the BJP government has not done anything about the issue. Apart from coal pollution, river nationalisation is also affecting the South and we will go to the people with these issues. We want to bring back the discourse to people’s issues and take it away from the discourse of divide with politics of religion and hate,” he added.
Sources in the Congress said the party is fighting the 2019 elections on the agenda of public issues and it is a battle between those who want to divide versus those who want to unite.
