Amid political feud, Quepem MLA calls for unity among villagers

Margao: Congress Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa on Tuesday accused his political rivals of trying to drive a wedge between villagers on the line of political affiliations and cautioned locals against falling prey to the divisive ways of his political opponents. He, however, stopped short of naming anybody.
“Politicians only try to further their own interests; however, division among villagers will only hamper the development of the village,” D’Costa said while launching the work of asphalting of roads in Subdalem, Barcem in Quepem taluka.
“If you want the village to be developed, the youth should remain united and lead the village towards progress. Nobody should think that development works won’t happen in this village because your MLA belongs to the opposition. Development will definitely happen with the help of the government and with cooperation from the ministers. Don’t believe in such disinformation,” D’Costa said.
D’Costa’s bete noire, former Quepem MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar was also present on the occasion.
Stating that development had evaded the village for the last two decades, D’Costa said all issues concerning infrastructure development, including that of water supply will be sorted out soon.
“I have just completed one year and one month as Quepem MLA. Already, I have solved the water issues of Subdalem and the rest will be resolved soon. There will be a number of development works that will be launched in the village soon,” he said.
Kavlekar, speaking on the occasion, said that the works being launched now were initiated when he was a part of the government in the last term.
“However, I will always be there for the development of the village. If the local MLA feels that I could be of any help for development plans, I will be too willing to help him,” Kavlekar said even as he refuted criticism that he was blocking development works in Quepem.