In an apparent jibe at Opposition INDIA bloc, Goa BJP’s General Secretary and former MLA, Damodar Naik, has said that it is “mere conglomeration of alphabets and has no force to make any impact”.
Speaking to IANS over current political situation in the country and Goa, Naik said that voters are vigilant and will not fall prey to any guarantees of the Opposition, which according to him never gets fulfilled.
“Congress failed in 60 years of its rule to eradicate poverty. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming up with policies and schemes for the poor sections of society. I am confident that the trust people have in BJP will not be allowed to violate,” he added.
“Opposition is targetting us over ‘murder of democracy’ only because they have no issues to raise. They are frustrated and hence they are levelling such unwanted allegations. This INDIA block is nothing but the conglomeration of ‘alphabets’, they have no force to make any impact. We are confident to win 400-plus seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and in Goa, we will win both the seats,” he said.
Naik added that if Congress had delivered their promises, then they would have not been defeated and remained out of power.
“People looked at us as an option and gave us an opportunity to form the government at the Centre and in Goa. Now poeple know how we are delivering and hence vigilant voters will never vote for the Opposition,” he said.
“In Goa too, people have come to know that the state suffers when there is no stable government. They know that we can give and work in the interest of people. Hence, we are very much confident about victory,” he added.
Naik alleged that the Congress government used to delay the completion of any development project only to escalate the estimates.
“Congress is best known for corruption. They always delayed works of projects to pave the way for corruption. Now people know how development can be done in a pace manner,” the senior BJP leader said.
Reacting to the allegations of opposition parties in Goa that BJP has stifled the voice of people and also of Opposition MLAs, Naik rejected the allegations saying they have no issues to raise.
“Even, once, I was on the Opposition side benches. I feel that Opposition should be there for good democracy, but they should not spread misinformation,” he added.
Expressing his thoughts about the import of MLAs from other parties, Naik said that sometimes it hurts party workers.
“But now they have come to know that in politics sometimes such steps are important to give stability,” he said.
“Suppose if there is any government with support of some other parties or independents, then there are chances that the latter blackmail to get their illegal work done. Hence to avoid such a situation, there is a need of a maximum number of MLAs in the ruling party. I think now our supporters and workers are convinced with this..,” Naik added.
Alleging that Congress has always done the appeasement of minorities, the Goa BJP leader said that this very fact has built insecurity in the Hindus.
“Hindus have got united because of this insecurity. I believe that everyone has to protect their religion and should work towards it,” he added, replying to a question over BJP’s ‘Hindu’ agenda.
He said that the Goa government is creating jobs in various sectors and helping youth to be self-sufficient.
“Government is creating jobs in industries and other areas wherever there is scope. Opposition’s allegations that we failed to create jobs are baseless,” Naik added.
Naik, defending his party over debt of the coastal state, said that it is the work of the Opposition to target the government and hence they are levelling baseless allegations.
“It is simple… suppose if war at the border is going on and if our soldiers kill 500 Pakistanis (soldiers), then the Opposition never speaks about it, but if they target our one bunker then the Opposition makes a noise about it,” he said, citing an example.
“The state finances are doing very well. One should understand that if we had failed to repay then we would have been called a ‘financially sick state’. Our government has plans to generate revenue and they are going on,” Naik added.