In damage control mode ahead of Goa Assembly polls, Amit Shah pays rich tributes to Manohar Parrikar, says only BJP can give Goans a stable Govt

BJP denied the late CM’s son, Utpal Parrikar a ticket from Panaji which led him to rebel and quit the party

@the_news_21

Mumbai: After having denied party ticket to late Manohar Parrikar’s son, Utpal from Panaji, Union Home Minister Amit Shah in a damage control mode remarked that the late Manohar Parrikar was a leader who made Goa’s name famous not only in India, but in the world as well.  

The former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Union Home Minister was on a day-long tour of poll-bound Goa. Shah was addressing a public meeting in Ponda where he paid rich tributes to the former BJP stalwart and late chief minister. 

Shah further remarked, “Former Defense Minister and ex-Goa CM Manohar Parrikar was such a leader who made Goa known not just in India, but across the world…It was he who had had sown the seeds of development, on which present Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant is building a sturdy edifice. The BJP’s aim is to realize Parrikar’s dream of a ‘Golden Goa’.” 

The former party president’s remarks are indicative of the saffron party being in a ‘fire-fighting’ mode after the party denied Parrikar’s son, Utpal, a ticket from Panaji – a seat held by his father for nearly 23 years. Utpal Parrikar raised the banner of revolt and is contesting the polls as an Independent.

Parrikar Junior had been particularly hurt by the BJP brass giving ticket from Panaji to sitting MLA and ex-Congressman Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate, an alleged history-sheeter, overlooking his candidature. Utpal Parrikar remarked that he was contesting in order to stand up for the values that were steadily eroding in the present BJP

Meanwhile, targeting the Congress, Shah alleged that the erstwhile Digambar Kamat government had been marked by “instability, bad governance and lawlessness” while accusing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of “Modi-phobia”. 

The Union Home Minister added, “I want to ask Kamat and Rahul Gandhi what the Congress has done for Goa in the past? When the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power at the Centre in 2013-14, it had given Goa a paltry sum of Rs. 432 crores. In contrast, the BJP-led Modi regime has given Goa a massive sum of Rs. 2,567 crores.” 

Shah further said that it was the Modi government’s policy to give priority to smaller states, remarking that Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant never “had to seek an appointment” with BJP Ministers at the Centre in order to get funds for Goa’s development. 

He further remarked, “For the BJP, the coastal State means ‘Golden Goa’, but for the Congress, Goa means a resort for the Gandhi family where Congress leaders merely come to vacation.” Shah also lambasted the other opposition parties in the poll fray including the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). 

Shah added, “I wonder why so many parties across the country have converged upon Goa? How can these small parties from other states (TMC and the AAP) be capable of providing security and stability to Goa? They have no agenda and no blueprint for Goa’s development…Development is possible only where there is stability and this can be achieved only by the BJP’s ‘double engine’.” 

He argued that ‘outside parties’ from Kolkata and Delhi (TMC and AAP) cannot understand the problems of Goa’s populace. “Since these parties know very well that they will not be forming a government after the Assembly election, they have no hesitation in doling out one hollow promise after the other,” remarked Shah. The Union Home Minister said this in an oblique reference to TMC’s recent manifesto and the AAP’s promises of free electricity and healthcare among other sops.  

Without naming the TMC or the AAP, Shah further said that the sole aim of some parties in contesting the Goa election seems to be wanting to be recognized as an ‘all-India’ party (TMC), while some merely wanted to open their accounts in Goa (AAP). 

Arguing that the BJP was a responsible political party, Shah claimed that if a “mashed-up government” was formed post-election, there would be massive corruption in Goa and that this kind of government would constantly be fighting with the Centre. 

“It was only when the BJP came to power, that a new age ushered in a new age of progress…the BJP has engineered Goa’s development and improved its infrastructure in a systematic manner,” contended Shah.

The Home Minister also participated in a door-to-door campaign in Sanvordem and launched the BJP’s umbrella campaign from the Vasco Assembly constituency.

This is the first time that BJP has fielded its candidates on all 40 seats in the Goa assembly election, which is slated for February 14.