AAP terms as 'scam' BJP's manifesto promising $50 billion economy for Goa

Aam Aadmi Party leader Amit Palekar on Tuesday said the BJP's manifesto for the Goa Assembly elections was a “scam”.

Goans will not fall for the ruling party's promises, said Palekar, the AAP's chief ministerial candidate.

“The 22-point manifesto of the BJP is nothing but a scam,” he told reporters.

To fulfil 10 promises made ten years ago, the BJP is asking people to vote for it for another five years, Palekar said. “If they have not succeeded in implementing all these things in the last ten years, how will they succeed now?” he asked.

The BJP has promised to create jobs but at the same time, there were job scams in the state's health and PWD departments which the AAP has exposed, Palekar claimed. The Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court has taken note of these scams and ordered vigilance inquiry, he added.

“The BJP, therefore, is scared and asking people to vote for it in order to scuttle these things (the probe). If the truth comes out, they will go to jail,” he added. As to the promise to resume mining within six months, the AAP leader asked what stopped the BJP, which is in power for ten years, from doing it until now. “Even according to SC guidelines they were allowed to start mining,” he said.

“If the BJP failed to resume mining in the last ten years, what is the guarantee that it will start it in the next five years? It takes willpower and it appears that the party lacks it,” he added.

Manifesto details

In its manifesto released on Tuesday, the BJP promised to make Goa a $50 billion economy in the next 10 years and resolved to provide three free LPG cylinders to every household, restore mining activities besides housing for all.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, in presence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Goa BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade, unveiled the manifesto that speaks about “empowering the future of Goa, increasing tourism activities, restoring legal mining and eliminating multidimensional poverty” in the state.

The ruling party said, “We will through constant efforts propel Goa to a growth trajectory that will enable the state to become a $50 billion economy in the next ten years.”

The BJP, which has fielded candidates in all the 40 assembly constituencies, promised to completely eliminate “multidimensional poverty” in the coastal state in the next five years.

“We will deliver social welfare benefits to the poor in a timely manner and through direct benefit transfers. We will increase the old-age pension under DDSSY (Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana) to Rs 3,000 per month,” the manifesto said.

In an important assurance, the BJP promised to restore mining activities (suspended since 2018), a key source of revenue for the state, within six months of returning to power through Goa Mineral Development Corporation and auction of iron ore blocks through “transparent leasing and by following the due process of law”.

The party vowed to “double the number of annual tourist arrivals in the state in the next five years by harnessing the potential for inland tourism, medical tourism and promoting heritage and spiritual tourism while augmenting the current infrastructure around adventure sports and beach tourism.”

The ruling party promised to make Goa an Asian hub for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions ((MICE), a key segment of the tourism industry. On the sports front, the BJP assured to launch “Mission Gold Coast” to groom an Olympic gold medallist for India from Goa.

Wooing women voters, the party said it will provide three free LPG cylinders to every household in Goa (in a year) to ease the financial burden on homemakers.

“We shall provide good-quality housing for all Goans in the next five years by providing home loans for deserving families at an interest rate of two per cent for women and four per cent for men and developing and providing residential plots,” the manifesto said.