Raising the pitch against the Congress ahead of the Goa Assembly election, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said had Jawaharlal Nehru’s leadership been decisive, Goa would have been liberated in 1947 itself instead of being freed of the Portuguese yoke in 1961.
In his second campaign tour of the coastal State, which goes to polls on February 14, Mr. Shah said Goa’s public has only two options to choose from — the Congress under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership or the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“History is witness that if PM Nehru had acted decisively, then Goa would have been liberated much earlier, in August 1947 itself… India is celebrating its 75th anniversary while Goa its diamond jubilee. A lot of time went in securing Goa’s liberation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday raised the issue in Parliament of who was responsible for Goa’s delayed liberation,” said the Home Minister, addressing a public rally in Bicholim in North Goa.
With an eye on the Goa polls, Mr. Modi had launched a bitter attack on the Congress in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, accusing the country’s first Prime Minister of refusing to intervene in Portuguese-held Goa as he was more concerned about “his international image”.
Mr. Shah, who was campaigning for the BJP’s Bicholim candidate Rajesh Patnekar, said Goa’s public had to decide which of these two parties they wanted to give a mandate.
“The people of Goa have experienced rule by both the Congress and the BJP. The Congress’ governments were marked by instability and lawlessness, while BJP brought about stability and the rule of law to the State,” said the Home Minister.
Mr. Patnekar, a three-term MLA from Bicholim and the current Speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly, had earlier declined to contest the seat. He was wooed back by the party leadership reportedly after being promised a Cabinet berth in the next BJP government.
Praise for Parrikar
Lauding the late BJP leader Manohar Parrikar’s contributions in building Goa, Mr. Shah said that the former Defence Minister and three-term Chief Minister had devoted his entire life to ensuring the State’s development.
“This time, the BJP is aiming for a hat-trick in Goa and will achieve its dream of a ‘Golden Goa’… current Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has already announced that mining in the State will resume within six months of our party forming the government,” he said.
Mr. Shah lambasted the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the other parties in the poll fray.
“The new parties that have come into Goa do not have the capability to develop either Goa or the country…Remember that TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee, the Congress and all other parties had resolutely opposed the scrapping of Article 370 in Kashmir. These parties were claiming that rivers of blood would flow in Kashmir, but nothing of the kind happened and the BJP succeeding in bringing the rule of law there,” claimed the Home Minister.
Mr. Shah said that the people had to choose either the BJP or a ‘dynastic party’ like the Congress. Notwithstanding its ‘anti-dynastic’ posture, the BJP itself has awarded tickets to spouses of its candidates for the Goa election, notably State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane’s wife, Deviya Rane, who has been fielded from Poriem – the stronghold of the Rane clan which has been held a record 11 times by Congressman Pratapsingh Rane, who is Deviya Rane’s father-in-law. Likewise, it has also given a ticket to Jennifer Monserrate, wife of incumbent Panaji MLA Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate. Ms. Monserrate, a cabinet minister in the Pramod Sawant-led BJP government, is the sitting MLA from Taleigao in North Goa. The party, however, denied a ticket to Manohar Parrikar’s son, Utpal Parrikar, compelling him to quit the party and contest as an Independent candidate against Mr. Monserrate.
With less than five days left to go for the polls, the BJP has unleashed its top guns with a view to win a majority in the 40-seat Goa Assembly. Prime Minister Modi himself will address a public rally in Goa on Thursday.
