While all this was acceptable, but a shocking statement was made by Luizinho on social media “have appealed to Didi to come to Goa, and protect its culture and identity”.
Shockingly, Faleiro deleted the tweet after a backlash on Twitter from Goans.
The immediate question that comes to mind is, Do we need an outsider to come and protect the culture and identity? What was Mr Faleiro doing all these decades of being into politics, protecting self-interest?
Since 2017 Goa has seen a number of protests and agitations. Can Faleiro stand up and tell Goans he stood by them at least once in protecting the culture and identity of Goa?
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
In an eventful start to the week, former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro resigned as the Navelim MLA and also as the primary member of the Indian National Congress. He subsequently joined the Trinamool Congress along with his supporters in Kolkata in the presence of the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee.
All this is fine; with elections around the corner, it is normal for the politicians to jump ships for personal interest. No matter how much they say “they did it in the interest of their people and development,” the personal interest comes first. And in Luizinho’s case, it was purely because he was sidelined and not calling the shots in GPCC.
While all this was acceptable, but a shocking statement was made by Luizinho on social media “have appealed to Didi to come to Goa, and protect its culture and identity”.
Shockingly, Faleiro deleted the tweet after a backlash on Twitter from Goans.
The immediate question that comes to mind is, Do we need an outsider to come and protect the culture and identity? What was Mr Faleiro doing all these decades of being into politics, protecting self-interest?
Since 2017 Goa has seen a number of protests and agitations. Can Faleiro stand up and tell Goans he stood by them at least once in protecting the culture and identity of Goa?
Goa saw a major agitation against the IIT Goa at Shel Melauli, wherein protestors were mercilessly beaten up. Every political leader, including Digambar Kamat, Girish Chodankar, and many others, supported the villagers; where was Luizinho then? Protecting self-interest?
Melaulim may be too far; thousands of people protested against the railway double-tracking issue in his own backyard, but Luizinho was missing/ Where was the former chief minister protecting Goa’s culture and identity from home?
Goa is facing the worst water crisis due to the Mhadei river diversion, and being the senior legislator and former chief minister, what has been Luizinho’s contribution? Except for making some random statement in Assembly, did he take any concrete step to pressurise the government? Was he not interested in the protection of Goa’s culture and identity? He may have forgotten, but let us remind him that Mhadei is both Goa’s culture and identity, and protecting it is the duty of every citizen, including politicians.
Moreover, Mining operations have been shut since 2018, people have lost jobs, businesses and have protested, agitated. What has been Luzinho’s contribution to getting the people’s livelihood back/ Is he not bothered with the sufferings of Goans?
Has Luizinho spoken a word against Casinos, which has been denting the culture and identity of Goa?
Some supporters and media houses are shedding crocodile tears over Luzinho’s exit terming him as one of the Congress’ tallest leaders.
Mind you, the tallest leaders fight on their own to save their people and not try to gain people’s sympathy by playing the victim card.
By asking Mamta Banerjee to save Goa’s culture and identity, Luizinho wants to suggest that Goans are incapable of protecting themselves.
Lest he forgets, we wish to remind him about the TMC’s brand of politics, which could wreak havoc in Goa. We have all seen what happened in West Bengal post-elections. People were literally massacred, offices burnt, workers beaten up, killed, mob violence. Do we want such kind of politics in Goa?
I am not blaming TMC for the violence, but they were in the ruling when this happened, and it is their responsibility to clear the mess. Do we want such a mess in Goa?
It is being rumoured that TMC will come with 10k workers in Goa for political campaigning. How will Goa handle such a large number of people from outside during peak tourist season? Will they be here in Goa just to know the names of voters you think, Mr Luizinho?
Goa is a peaceful State, and despite the rivalry, we see Pramod Sawant and Vijai Sardesai or Rohan Khaunte shaking hands and sharing jokes sometimes, unlike politics elsewhere in India, wherein politicians gun for each other’s head.
Let Goa remain peaceful as it is. Mr Luizinho can join as many parties as he wants to but never tell them to come here and protect us, for Goans are strong enough to deal with their own problems and need no outsider to intervene.
