PANAJI: Voters will not allow parties that have come from outside to use Goa as a laboratory for political experiments in the upcoming state Assembly elections, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Friday in a remark aimed at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Sawant was addressing a gathering in his native village of Kothambi in Sankhalim Assembly constituency, where he formally kicked off his election campaign for the polls scheduled to be held in February 2022.
"We are taking forward the legacy of former chief ministers late Dayanand Bandodkar, late Manohar Parrikar and others," the BJP leader said, taking a jibe at the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), accusing it of selling out its values to political parties that arrived from outside the state.
The chief minister was referring to the pre-poll alliance between the MGP and the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, which has decided to contest the elections in Goa this time.
Besides the TMC, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, which currently rules Delhi, is also in the fray.
"People will not allow Goa to be used as a laboratory for political experiments by parties that have come from outside the state," Sawant said.
The chief minister recalled how he and his young BJP supporters were ridiculed as "immature fellows" during the 2012 state Assembly elections.
"Some senior people questioned how I will be able to win the election with these immature fellows. Everyone in our team was under 50 years of age. But we won the polls," he said, referring to his victory from Sankhalim seat, which he has represented twice.
Only 40 days are remaining for the polls as elections may be held somewhere between February 10 and February 14, the chief minister said.
"Being the chief minister, I will have to tour the entire state campaigning for other candidates. I may not be able to reach out to all voters in my own constituency," Sawant said, appealing to party workers to compensate for his absence and "convince the voters".