PANAJI: Having passed his first big test with flying colours, chief minister Pramod Sawant is riding high on confidence. In an exclusive interview with TOI, he explained why BJP can count on his leadership for the 2022 state assembly elections as well.
Given the big success for BJP, what is the message that voters have sent out?
People voted for the first time under my leadership at the zilla panchayat elections. In North, we expected 19 out of 25 seats and 14 out of 17 in South. If you take the results into consideration, people from rural Goa have faith in me. It shows that people have voted in favour of development.
What were the major factors that helped BJP sweep the polls?
People know that the chief minister is working in the interest of the state and its people. People have accepted the concept of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Swayampoorna Goa. People have not fallen prey to false propaganda of the opposition. They have realised that opposition to everything is merely for the sake of politics.
Despite a strong presence, BJP lost in some constituencies...
We lost with narrow margin. We may have made a mistake in selecting candidates. We will introspectwhy we lost in some constituencies and try to secure them in the future.
Did the import of Congress and MGP MLAs go in favour of BJP?
When these MLAs joined BJP, we were mocked at, saying people will show them their place. Now it is being said that they joining BJP went in our favour. It is important that people have trust and faith in the leadership. People have trusted my leadership.My team of ministers did a lot of work and the same was taken to the grassroots by the party. This has benefitted us to a very large extent.
You went to several constituencies and held meetings. What turned the tide in favour of BJP?
I met a few party workers and instilled confidence in them. When we sent our officials (Swayampurna Mitra) to rural areas for taking up developmental works, people trusted me. In the last 60 years of Goa’s history, someone has spoken to them about human development and people have accepted it and voted in favour of BJP.
What about the three linear projects including double tracking of railway line, Tamnar power transmission line and widening of national highway? Now that BJP won big, will the government be prompted to go ahead?
People have voted for development and Goa’s development is my dream. We are going ahead with the development. Goa needs Tamnar project. We have to understand what Goa needs right now and for the future.
BJP won constituencies that were at the heart of the agitations against developmental projects...
This clearly shows that people are not against development. People who are opposing are a specific group of people who will always oppose everything.
In the past, except 2017, BJP had an alliance with MGP. With this ZP election results, do you think BJP will now go it alone, like the 2017 elections?
Considering the ZP results, I can say that people have voted in favour of BJP for stability. We can single-handedly go ahead, under my leadership. The state and central leadership will take a decision.