PANJIM: A section of Ribandar villagers, led by social activist Adv Aries Rodrigues, supporting Congress in the Panjim by-election, have decided to campaign in all 30 booths against Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to ensure his ‘political funeral’.
Addressing the media on Thursday, in the presence of Congress Panjim candidate Girish Chodankar, Rodrigues claimed that Goa Forward Party leader and former Congressman Atanasio Monserrate will silently work against Parrikar in Panjim.
“The by-elections are very crucial for Goa, which will give an opportunity to voters of Panjim and Valpoi to punish Parrikar and Vishwajit Rane for unnecessarily forcing by-elections for their vested interest,” he said.
Despite being represented by a ruling MLA for more than two decades, Parrikar, who has been Chief Minister three times, neglected Ribandar, Rodrigues said. “People will silently and secretly send Parrikar home. August 23 election will witness the political funeral of Parrikar,” he said.
He said Ribandar has six booths with 3900 voters. “Voters from these booths will collectively work in rest of the 24 booths in the constituency against BJP and Parrikar,” he said.
Admitting that he canvassed and voted for Parrikar in the 2012 Assembly elections, Rodrigues said that today there is need to look for an alternative. “There was a time when I supported and voted for Parrikar. This election is a good opportunity for the people to elect an alternative like Girish Chodankar,” he said.
Chodankar said that in the first round of campaign, he has covered the Ribandar area, where he received overwhelming response from the voters. “The biggest issue the people are facing there is unemployment, water scarcity, power failures, Hindu crematorium and non accessible MLA,” he said.
