Daijiworld Media Network - Vasco

Vasco, Oct 11: Former Mormugao Municipal Council chairperson Leo Rodrigues, former deputy chairperson Ramchandra Kamat and ex-councillor Damodar Naik, who were elected on the BJP panel in the 2021 municipal elections, were seen participating in the Congress-led Goy Rakhonn Yatra in Mormugao taluka.

Rodrigues served as the municipal council chairperson for one year, while Kamat held the post of deputy chairperson for three years.

The yatra began in Chicalim, passed through the Dabolim and Vasco constituencies, and concluded in the Mormugao constituency on Friday evening.

Rodrigues and Kamat alleged that the BJP government had failed to protect the interests of the people of Goa and urged voters to defeat BJP candidates in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Kamat said a change in government was necessary and claimed that the BJP was better suited to play the role of the Opposition.

However, both leaders clarified that they had not joined the Congress and said they had participated in the yatra as part of a people's movement to understand public sentiment and the plans being discussed to counter alleged corruption.

Rodrigues said they wanted to hear people's views and understand how they intended to respond to what he described as corrupt practices.

Meanwhile, NRI Affairs Commissioner Narendra Sawaikar criticised their participation in the yatra, describing it as a “survival stunt” by the Congress.

Dismissing the views expressed by Rodrigues and Kamat, Sawaikar said, “The views of Rodrigues and Kamat do not matter because people have full faith in BJP governance”.