MARGAO
The Lotus had failed to bloom in Benaulim, the heartland of Salcete, in the historic Opinion Poll, the only referendum held in the country on January 16, 1967. And, the Lotus has failed to make its presence felt in Benaulim post-Opinion Poll till date, with BJP’s repeated forays in the minority belt coming a cropper.
In a development that may make interesting reading, Benaulim Aam Aadmi Party MLA Venzy Viegas on Thursday tried to correlate incumbent Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to Goa’s first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandokar, but for a different reason.
In reply, the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said he believes that politics and development are two separate things, saying he has tried to take up basic infrastructure development across the 40 constituencies in the last five years. “Criticism does not affect me because development is my priority”, the CM said.
While addressing two programs in Benaulim, one at the Holy Trinity School, Benaulim and the other at Colva at the STP commissioning, the Benaulim MLA sought to remind that Dayanand Bandodkar and Opposition leader Dr Jack de Sequeira left no stone unturned during the Opinion Poll in support and against the merger of Goa into Maharashtra.
He, however, said that both Bandodkar and Jack Sequeira had left behind their political differences as they together tried to build Brand Goa post-Opinion Poll. “This is evident by the fact that Bandodkar went about laying the foundation for school infrastructure across the State, including Salcete, which did not support the pro-merger stand of the government”, he said.
Similarly, the AAP MLA correlated Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to late Dayanad Bandodkar, saying the Chief Minister does not discriminate against Opposition represented constituencies in the State.
While profusely thanking the Chief Minister for taking up development works in Benaulim, Venzy said “as an Opposition, we have differences with the government. I have been fighting for Brand Goa and criticise all the negative things the government is doing. But, when it comes to development, the Chief Minister has supported me to take up development in the education sector and other infrastructure projects in Benaulim”, he said.
In fact, Venzy said the Chief Minister has approved all Opposition’s development files and has been kind enough to approve funds for the Education infrastructure including schools in Benaulim.
“The CM has never said no for development in Benaulim. In the morning, we have launched work at the Holy Trinity school. I would like to thank the CM on behalf of the people of Colva and the seven villages of Benaulim constituency”, he said, adding “election should be fought on policies and ideologies and only then Goa will make progress and move forward”.
