Election heat in Goa has also triggered a rise in the temperature of the political dialogue in Goa, with the AAP and the Congress accusing leaders of other parties of being “outsiders” who are trying to meddle in Goa.
A few days after a Congress spokesperson Trajano D’Mello called Delhi deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia a ‘ghanti’, a derogatory reference sometimes used to target non-Goan individuals, the AAP has hit back, asking whether Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi were ‘ghantis’ to by the same logic.
“They are right in saying we are not from Goa, we are outsiders and new to Goa, but by the same statement are Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi also outsiders too. The Congress too, like the AAP is a national party and they too like us will be campaigning in Goa for elections,” Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said.
Jain is in Goa to campaign for AAP, which is contesting the upcoming Goa legislative Assembly polls.
“Yes, they (Congress) are absolutely correct in calling us outsiders and newbies in Goa’s politics. Going by their own statements, then Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are also outsiders as they also don’t live in Panaji. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is a national party and we are coming from Delhi to campaign for our local members, not fight elections ourselves,” Jain said.
Earlier, Congress spokesperson Trajano D’Mello had called Sisodia a ‘ghanti’, after the AAP leader said that Goan parents needed to be “educated” on issues related to medium of instruction in primary schools.
“A ‘ghanti’ is required to educate local parents hereIJ Forefathers of Goans had high wisdom. You don’t have to come here to tell us,. You think parents in Goa are ignorantIJ” D’Mello had said.
D’Mello has also accused the AAP of fronting for the BJP during the upcoming State legislative Assembly elections.
“The AAP is in Goa on behalf of the BJP. They are both working together and the Congress will expose this” D’Mello said.