Goa’s influential Catholic Church has in a communiqué called on the State’s electorate to vote for a secular candidate while it hit out at the promotion of ‘personality oriented politics.’
The Voter’s Pledge, issued formally by the Council of Social Justice and Peace, the social outreach arm of the Roman Catholic Church in Goa does not take names but makes no bones about the fact that the real opponent this time is the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
“However, sadly, in the past few years the ‘Secular Spirit’ has been infiltrated by corporate communal forces which are quite visible in Goa… It is convincingly apparent that the ‘Election Campaign’ even in these first stages, supported by the media, is geared towards the promotion of one individual as if this is a Presidential Election,” the pledge which appeals for a ‘secular vote’ reads.
The church, which holds considerable clout in large swatches of Goa that are crucial for any politician’s chances, even blasted the “claims of good governance”. In another dismissal of the BJP’s claim of good governance, especially in States like Gujarat and Goa, the pledge says that such claims were in fact myths.
The pledge also did not spare Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, criticising the State Government for failing in its basic promise of dealing with the large scale corruption that had become synonymous with Congress leaders in the State. Ahead of the State Assembly elections, the church asked the electorate to vote out corruption.