n Says party can throw him out if unhappy n Demands action against Calangute MLA
the goan I network
MAPUSA
ON MAPUSA’S WOES: On Lobo’s charge that Mapusa has lagged behind despite being at the helm for five terms, he said the fate of Mapusa was for its people to decide.
Putting the party on notice, senior BJP leader and Urban Development Minister Francisco D’Souza said either the party should take disciplinary action against the Calangute MLA or else allow him (D’Souza) to chart his own course of action.
He also said that if BJP was not happy with him it was free to throw him out.
“I told the party secretary if the party is not happy with me or my performance, show me the door. You don’t have to shoot from another person’s shoulder,” D’Souza told The Goan.
On Thursday, Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo, while speaking to the media, had said that for 25 years, the Mapusa MLA had failed to develop the city and there was need to bring a political change in the constituency.
“If Mapusa needs acche din, then there is need to bring about a change in Mapusa in future. I will bring the required change in Mapusa. It’s my promise to the citizens of Mapusa,” Lobo had said.
This is the second time that Lobo has questioned D’Souza’s leadership and censured him when he was not in the State.
Last time when the Calangute MLA took pot shots at the Mapusa MLA was when he was away for treatment abroad in September 2017.
ON PARTY’S DISCIPLINE: Stating that he has expressed his feelings to the party, D’Souza said the ball was now in the party’s court.
“If the party takes action, it’s well and good. If they don’t, then I have to decide on the future course of action,” said D’Souza, who cut short his holiday and arrived in Goa a couple of days back.
Maintaining that the much trumpeted party discipline had gone for a toss in the State, he said, it was free for all out there.
“Nobody breaks party discipline and I also want to keep the discipline. But there are limits. Somebody is indefinitely bashing me and everybody in the party keeps quiet as though nothing has happened. That is not a good feeling,” said D’Souza, who appeared hurt with his junior colleague’s unwarranted outburst.
He, however, said that nobody should view his statements as an attempt to destabilize the government.
“One should not get misled that I am trying to destabilize the government. My people have voted me for five years and I will back the government till it completes its term. Being a minister or MLA does not matter to me,” he said.
“It is not up to him (Lobo) to decide what is happening or not in Mapusa. That is for people of Mapusa to decide. I am one of the few candidates in BJP who gets elected with resounding margin. People of Mapusa simply do not re-elect me. They see something in me, which is not there in others,” he said.
On the flooding of the market and other areas, he said flooding was an all Goa issue.
“It’s not in Mapusa alone. It happened in the whole State. Panaji was also flooded some days back. No one has asked the CM to resign,” he said.
