Shah asks Goans to back BJP again for Golden Goa

Ponda (Goa): Hitting the campaign trail in Goa weeks ahead of the Assembly polls, Union home minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Sunday said the people of the state need to choose between the BJP’s “golden Goa” and the Congress’s “Gandhi parivar ka Goa”, and asserted that only the BJP can provide political stability to the coastal state for its development.

He slammed the parties that have come from outside Goa and contesting the February 14 state elections, including the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying that these political outfits do not understand the difficulties of Goans and have no solution to their problems, whereas the Modi government has given priority to development of small states like Goa.

Shah also criticised the Congress and the party’s former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat for “devastating” the state through his government’s “misrule”, and asserted that in the last 10 years, the BJP has provided a stable government and brought development in the state.

The Union minister was addressing an indoor public meeting at Ponda in South Goa, about 30 kms from state capital Panaji, to canvass for party candidate and former Goa chief minister Ravi Naik, who had recently joined the BJP after quitting the Congress. Naik is contesting the election from Ponda constituency.

“Congress’s Gandhi family has a habit of going on holidays, so they want a tourism spot for vacation. They come here often. For the BJP, Goa means ‘golden Goa’, but for Congress it is ‘Gandhi parivar ka Goa’. Do you want (BJP’s) golden Goa or Gandhi parivar ka Goa?” he asked.

Referring to the parties from outside Goa, he said, “Parties which have arrived here from other states will not be able to carry out development here. Do they know your difficulties? Do they have a solution for them?”

These parties have entered the fray just to expand their base or get national recognition, he alleged.  — PTI