\'Congress Leaders Defecting Is Not New, It's Because It Has No Future\'
HYDERABAD: Handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to helm the government of the diversified coastal state of Goa six years ago, the young Dr Pramod Sawant, an ayurvedic medical professional, proved more than effective by delivering a higher number of seats to the BJP in 2022 polls. In the 40-member Goa Assembly, the party’s strength has improved from 13 to 20 under his leadership.
Dr Sawant launched several initiatives to harness the potential of the state, a tourist haven, while attempting to strike the balance between development and ecology.
In a bid to provide clean administration, he recently ordered an investigation by a special investigation team into land grabbing, which is on the rise in the state. Based on its recommendations, he decided to bring in legislation that would give ownership rights over the “no man’s land” parcels to the heirs of migrants and take over land with no claimants.
In Telangana to campaign for the BJP, Dr Sawant, in an exclusive interview with Deccan Chronicle, shared his views on the Prime Minister’s developmental model, the Opposition’s inability to project an alternative to Modi and his vision to develop Goa.
Excerpts:
Q. How is the party doing in Telangana?
After bifurcation, Telangana progressed, but not as per the expectations of people, particularly farmers. The very foundation on which the Telangana movement was built was “neellu (water), nidhulu (
During my interaction with people, I realised that there was massive unrest, which would not have been the case had the fruits of the progress of nine years reached the people. We have been propagating news of the great strides the country has achieved under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the progress envisaged for the country in the next 25 years, under Azadi ka Amrit Kaal, and seeking a mandate for the party in Telangana also.
Q. There were allegations that the Centre did not release adequate funds to Telangana.
Modi ji always believes in the overall development of the country and has never discriminated against states based on the parties that are in power. He has granted projects to states where the BJP is not in power and never said no to any state, if it came up with a specific proposal. He had involved all states and cities in organising G20-related events. It was a great event to host the meeting of heads of the 20 most powerful countries and it took place because of the strong leadership that Modi ji has been providing.
Q. After taking over the reins of Goa, where BJP could not secure a clear mandate in 2017 and faced allegations of encouraging defections, you succeeded in enhancing the party strength and almost achieved a clear mandate in 2022. How did this happen?
The defection of Congress leaders to other parties has become routine. It is not limited to Goa but in other states also… like in the case of BRS in Telangana. It is mainly because they see no future for the country under the Congress.
While successfully implementing all the Central schemes, my government also focused on state schemes and improving our revenues. Modi ji strongly believes in the empowerment of people. For the first time, 40 crore citizens opened bank accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana, and the Centre has been transferring benefits directly into their accounts.
Be it Clean India, Start-Up India, Make in India or Digital India, he strives hard for infrastructure, as well as human development. We are all witnessing the massive development of the road network, both of National Highways and in villages, under the PM Sadak Yojana. Top priority is given to health, education, employment and even sports under his ‘Khelo India’ initiative that fetched more than 100 medals in the recent Asiad.
Q. But there is a criticism that the BJP, despite its claims on development, invokes religion to make electoral gains.
No. Never. The BJP will never invoke religion to make electoral gains. Modi ji believes in the true spirit of “Sab ka saath Sab ka vikas”. We implement all the schemes with the Antyodaya concept — ensuring that the benefit reaches the last person — as we believe in “antyoday, gramoday and sarvoday”. No eligible citizen is discriminated against on the basis of religion for extending government benefits.
Goa is the best example of diversity. We have more than 20 per cent minorities but people across religions are given benefits. We did not deny housing benefits under PM Awas Yojana or health insurance under Ayushman Bharat to minorities. It is the other way around. It is Congress and its allies who always stoke religious sentiments to win elections.
Q. The Congress and particularly its leader Rahul Gandhi accuse the BJP of spreading hatred and several parties joined hands to defeat what they call the “communal BJP”.
What is I.N.D.I Alliance? All the partners are members of the UPA. They just changed the name. Nothing else will change. Corruption remains the same. The Congress recently won Karnataka and within six months, they are indulging in largescale corruption as was evident from the seizure of '40 crore cash from a minister’s close relative. They are also against Sanatana Dharma and continue to stoke communal feelings and engineer riots. There is not a single leader to project as a Prime Ministerial candidate, as an alternative to Modi.
Q. How do you plan Goa’s future in the coming years?
We are focusing on spiritual and medical tourism. We brought several new policies to encourage homestay and caravan-stay. We want to develop IT in a big way and are inviting all companies to set up shop in the state. We are reviving mining activity and very soon, the auction will be completed and companies picked in the most transparent manner. We are also highly sensitive to the ecology and all steps would be taken to preserve ecology.