Congress asked the RGP to withdraw its candidates and support the INDIA Bloc.
Goa Election Alliance: In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) on Monday said it is ready to ally with the Congress if the party works to scrap the Mhadei project and demolishes illegal slums in the state”.
It is said that Congress appealed to the RGP to withdraw its candidates from the fray and support the INDIA Alliance.
Congress has already announced the names of former Union minister Ramakant Khalap and Viriato Fernandes as candidates for the North and South Goa Lok Sabha seats.
RGP Chief Manoj Parab while addressing a press conference in Panaji said his party is ready for “seat sharing” with the INDIA bloc if it is ready to fulfil its conditions about the Mhadei river, illegal slums, and People of Goan Origin (POGO) Bill.
“The RGP will offer support to the INDIA bloc but on the condition that it works towards scrapping the Kalasa-Bandura project on the Mhadei river and adds in its state manifesto that the river will remain with Goans,” said Parab adding that the Congress high command should give an assurance that the government in Karnataka will not allow diversion of water from the river.
Parab demanded that the INDIA bloc accept the Person of Goan Origin (POGO) Bill.
It has been a demand of the Revolutionary Goans Party that all Goans who were born or whose family members were born in Goa before 1961, when the state was liberated from Portuguese rule, should be declared as “People of Goan Origin” and should be given priority in the government sector for employment and other purposes.
Party MLA Viresh Borkar had tried to table the bill in the House, but other parties, including Congress, rejected it.
“If they don’t accept the POGO Bill, the Congress should define who is Goan according to them,” Parab said adding that the RGP will wait for the response from INDIA Alliance till April 20.
Goa will vote on May 7 and the counting of votes will be held on June 4.
(With PTI inputs)
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