-------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Add your name to the CLEAN GOA INITIATIVE | | | | by visiting this link and following the instructions therein | | | | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/033926.html | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The controversial Ordinance to the Town and Country Planning Act has rightly been kept in abeyance till it is debated by our Legislative assembly. That's not enough for Victoria Fernandes who isolated in the Congress party wants to keep the issue going while fighting her battle for political survival.
The fallout of the agitation led by Mrs. Victoria Fernandes is yet to begin. The Congress party will definitely contemplate disciplinary action against Victoria for having openly flouted party discipline in openly criticising the local Congress leadership. Victoria Fernandes can now be assured that she and her heir stand no chance of a Congress ticket in the next assembly elections which may be round the corner. This may not be a matter of concern to Victoria who has been in and out of the Congress earlier. Before asking the people to protest against the TCP ordinance Victoria should have led by example and as a protest first resigned from all government posts doled out to her. The crumbs of Deputy Speaker and Chairmanship of Goa Handicrafts Corporation were craftily handed over to her and she willingly fell for the bait. It is an irony that in the Congress party the biggest threat is from within the party. This has virtually become the Congress culture. It is very clear that Victoria's battle is not for the love of Goa's greenery or against the concreteisation of Goa but an attempt to settle political scores with Babush Monseratte. Victoria Fernandes had been the Chairman of the North Goa PDA in the past. What steps did she take to exclude rural areas including Ribandar which though part of Panjim Municipality has all the ingredients of a rural area? Victoria cannot absolve herself from the responsibility of the overall neglect of Santa Cruz Constituency of which Ribandar is currently a part. I hold no brief for Mr Monseratte but the people can see the neglect of Santa Cruz constituency they have endured after years in Victoria's captivity and on the other hand a rapidly developing Taleigao under the recent leadership of Mr Monseratte. That money and muscle power has taken centre stage in Goa politics is known to all and Victoria is no novice to this fact. In trying to snipe Babush, Victoria's unwarranted outbursts against Santa Cruz's long-serving Sarpanch William Gonsalves and Merces Zilla Parishad Member Kishore Narvekar are in bad taste. They have supported her in the past and Victoria should not expect everyone to always dance to her political tunes. With her term as MLA soon coming to an end and she having made it public at the last election that it would be her last, she should now focus on trying to find a young and dynamic successor to carry the Santa Cruz constituency forward. William Gonsalves, Kishore Narvekar, Adv Atanasio Monteiro amongst others may be able to do justice to the job. As far as Ribandar is concerned at the next assembly elections we will be part of Panjim Constituency. Whether it is for better or worse, only time will tell! But someone will have to deliver where Victoria Fernandes has failed. Aires Rodrigues ___________________________________________________________ To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com