Campaigning for the BJP in South Goa’s Cortalim constituency, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Tuesday said the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) could be abbreviated as ‘CAT’, and if the ‘cat’ crosses one’s path, it would only be inauspicious.
“These three parties are fighting among themselves. They are not going to do good for anyone,” said Chouhan. “Humare yahan kahan jaata hai ki billi agar rasta kat de, toh pura kaam bigad jaata hai. Bill ka rasta kaatna shubh nahi hota. Yeh billiyan rasta katne ayee hai. Vikas ka rastra katne. CAT se savdhaan rehna. Yeh ajengi to sab kaam thap ho jayenge (If this ‘cat’ crosses your path, it will be inauspicious and all the good work will come to a stop).”
Chouhan addressed public meetings in the Dabolim constituency with Goa’s Transport Minister and six-time MLA Mauvin Godinho, and later at the Cortalim constituency.
BJP’s former MLA from Cortalim Alina Saldanha resigned in December to join the AAP. The BJP has fielded Narayan Naik, who rose from the party ranks, as its candidate from Cortalim.
Cortalim and Dabolim are the four Assembly constituencies in the Mormugao taluka, which were won by the BJP in 2017. The taluka, that is home to the Mormugao Port Trust, also has a large presence of Goa’s migrant population.
Chouhan addressed public meetings in the Dabolim constituency with Goa’s Transport Minister and six-time MLA Mauvin Godinho, and later at the Cortalim constituency.
Chouhan cautioned party workers gathered in a hall in Cortalim that people will have to be “alert” this election. He said, “You have to be alert. New parties are coming in new forms. Someone is coming from Bengal, someone from Delhi… election tourism is going on. Let’s go to Goa, there is an election. They won’t be seen after the election. Yeh toh thehre pardesi, saath kya nibhayenge (these are foreigners, why will they stay with you). Didi has come. I saw hoardings kissing the sky. What did you do in Bengal, Didi? Goonda raj, kidnapping raj, atrocities on women. TMC is terror, murder, corruption.”
Taking a swipe at the Congress, Chouhan said its leader Rahul Gandhi was determined to end the party. “They may say whatever his age is 50-55. But his mental age is six. He behaves like a child,” said Chouhan. “He went to meet Parrikarji when he was unwell and after coming out he gave a false statement. You go to meet someone who is ailing and make a political statement after coming out. Yeh theek hai kya (is this right)?”
“In Punjab, they had a good government running under Captain sahab. But Rahul Gandhi came with Siddhu and Channi and now they are at loggerheads,” said Chouhan. “Gandhiji had said after Independence, Congress khatam karo (finish the Congress). Nehru did not listen. But Rahul Gandhi is determined to,” said Chouhan.
He said former Goa Chief Minister and 11-time Congress legislator Pratap Singh Rane, who had decided not to contest election this time, had decided wisely.
“Rane sahab bade samajhdar aadmi hai (Rane is a wise man). He won 11 times and now that the ship has a hole, he said he doesn’t want to contest. The wise leaders don’t want the Congress,” said Chouhan.
He said the AAP only made lofty promises with which it was taking Goans for a ride.
He also mentioned former Goa CM Manohar Parrikar, whose memories, he said, still make him emotional. “He was Goa’s Mr Clean. Until his last breath, he strived for Goa. He laid the foundation of ‘Golden Goa’.”
He said the “double engine” government of the BJP at the Centre and the state would ensure development in Goa. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “super human”.
“He is not a common man…Narendra Modiji is super human, ishwar ke ansh hai (he is a part of Goa), anant shaktiyon ke bhandar hai (repository of limitless energies) , no common man can work like this,” Chouhan said.