Netravali’s ex-dy sarpanch joins Congress

Margao: Abhijit Dessai, former deputy sarpanch of

Netravali

, whose membership of the panchayat was recently terminated by the director of panchayats—the order pertaining to which was later stayed by the court—joined Congress on Sunday.

Three other members of the Netravali panchayat—Vithal Gaonkar, Santosh Naik and Prakash Bhagat—alongwith over 100 supporters, who claimed to have been with BJP in the past, also joined Congress.

They were welcomed into Congress by opposition leader Chandrakant Kavlekar, in the presence of Margao MLA Digambar Kamat and the party’s South Goa district president Joe Dias.

Kavlekar said the entry of Dessai and his supporters has added to the strength of Congress. “People are determined to overthrow Narendra Modi and bring in Rahul Gandhi as the prime minister,” he said. Stating that winning both Lok Sabha seats as well as the byelections was crucial for the party.

He accused BJP of misleading the people of Goa by making false promises.

“They fooled the people over the mining issue. They failed in getting even an appointment with the Prime Minister, and when they finally did, there was no concrete assurance from him over resumption of mines. They fooled the Dhangar community by promising to include it in the scheduled tribes category,” Kavlekar said.


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