NCP SETS OUT TO FOOL GOANS AS ELECTIONS NEAR: BLUFF OF GETTING SCHEMES TO FARMERS

PANJIM: As elections near Goan politicians pretend to do something for the people a trick they have been using to lure voters and then forget all the promises made.  The state Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president, Mr Surendra Sirsat and the state Revenue Minister, Mr Jose Philip D’Souza left for the national capital Sunday to meet the Union Agriculture Minister to get schemes for local farmers, NCP office bearers said on Sunday.

The Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar is the party’s national president and the move could herald the start of the soft launch of the election campaign of the NCP in the state.

“We are going to Delhi to meet Mr Pawar and get some schemes from the agriculture department for local farmers,” the state unit president, Mr Surendra Sirsat told the media. “We are a political party, so we have to get ready for the elections,” he added.

The NCP has been in the news after the recent happenings in the state unit, punctuated by open bickering, allegations of corruption and malpractices involving its state unit office bearers, the central observer, Ms Bharthi Chavan and NCP national general secretary, Mr Jitendra Deshprabhu.

When asked about that, Mr Sirsat said the state Revenue Minister, Mr Jose Philip D’ Souza, senior vice presidents, Mr Pandurang Raut and Mr Suresh Parulekar, general secretary, Mr V Prabhu Moni and the central observer, Ms Bharthi Chavan had met Mr Pawar in Mumbai on Sunday and submitted a report regarding the happenings of the last two days and the utterances of Mr Deshprabhu.

“We have submitted the report along with a copy of the resolution taken at the emergency meeting of the state executive,” Mr Sirsat said, adding that Mr Pawar had told them that “he would go through the report and then take appropriate action.”

Mr Sirsat said that they had impressed upon Mr Pawar that as Mr Deshprabhu was a national party office bearer he should have approached the high command if he had any grievances instead of approaching the media.

Mr Sirsat had told media after the state executive on Saturday that the party had taken a resolution that no party member should take his differences to the media. The resolution also wanted the high command to intervene and sort out the issue.

Mr Deshprabhu, on the other hand, told media that there “is every possibility that the resolution would be drafted by people supporting Bharati Chawan but on record, during the meeting, there was no resolution taken.” He said that there was a faction within the party which was trying to push the resolution, which was vehemently opposed by majority.

Mr Deshprabhu’s allegation is that the central observer, Ms Chavan was trying to distribute tickets for pecuniary benefits and had even met the PWD Minister, Mr Churchill Alemao regarding the ticket for his daughter, Ms Valanka Alemao. Mr Deshprabhu has also accused senior vice president, Mr Suresh Parulekar of having ties with notorious Tiger Memon. He had also accused the president of appointing people unauthorisedly.

Mr Deshprbhu had demanded Ms Chavan’s expulsion and said that he would push for it at the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting to be held in Delhi on July 17. The meeting is to be attended by Mr Sharad Pawar and national general secretary, Mr Praful Patel.