DELHI STORY: Life is not as rosy in Delhi as painted by its Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, says Congress national leader and spokesperson Alka Lamba while in Goa, recently. She backed up her observations with newspaper reports in hand. With her at the Congress House are Congress Goa Women’s Wing President Beena Naik, Benaulim’s Royla Fernandes and Sonal Malvankar.

By Pankajbala R Patel

As painted by AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal in Goa….

ASK any media person attending the AAP press conferences and one may get the idea that life is hunky dory in capital city Delhi and maybe Goa should go the Delhi way and vote for band of AAP’s members seeking the fruits of political office in the upcoming Assembly elections! Now despite Chief Minister of Delhi and AAP High Command Arvind Kejriwal trips to Goa, to assure Goans that his party has made sweeping changes to convert Delhi into a paradise of free services for the poor and underprivileged — we are hearing the other side of the AAP story of truth, half-truth and lies.
Now Goans are being treated to all these videos testifying that Delhi is no quite the city of paradise but here, take a look at this huge spanking new hospital premises — empty of services in place for a few patients! Delhi spokesperson and Congress national leader Alka Lamba was in Goa at the Congress Office in Panaji on Nov 7, 2021 to correct all rosy pictures of life in Delhi as painted by AAP’s visiting leaders including convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
If Delhi’s chief minister cannot provide jobs for Delhites in Delhi how will he provide jobs for the jobless in Goa? Asked Alka Lamba pertinently. She said that the unemployment rate in Delhi is higher than the national unemployment rated by 23.5 per cent and as for the environment in Delhi it is a regular nightmare about which Chief Minister Kejriwal has done nothing. Delhites suffer a high incidence of respiratory ailments and diseases and to come to Goa offering freebie pilgrimages to Goans for votes, is like rubbing salt in old wounds for the people of Delhi.
Delhi citizens suffer from the mega pollution in Delhi and its CM is not using money wisely (he claims to have earned by stopping corruption in bureaucracy in Delhi) but foolishly in Goa in search of national political fame and fortune. Why should Delhi’s chief minister come to Goa to spend Delhi’s tax-payers’ money offering freebies in exchange for votes?
It’s an enlightening question if Goans are interested in taking note of it. As for giving doles to the unemployed in Goa, Ms Lamba asked further, why isn’t he giving them to Delhi youth first? Aren’t the unemployed youth of Delhi more important and worthy of priority treatment?
She also of course took digs by the manner in which AAP and TMC chief ministers are stringing up posters and pin-boards all over Goa so that Goans at least recognise them! All this advertising which budgets running into several crore, whose money? The government of Delhi spent a whopping Rs940 crore only on advertising on pollution to con people – without actually doing anything at ground level to ease the severity of pollution in Delhi! Is this public money wells spent?
Again, sharing a tweet by a Prof Sujata in Delhi, Ms Lamba said that while Delhi’s CM was making promises of AAP’s generosity in Goa and Gujarat, he has yet to release payments due to many administrators of Delhi schools and colleges in his own jurisdiction. All this and much more to educate and warn Goans about taking promises made seriously by politicians from outside Goa who are not interested in Goa at all but the what Goan voters can give them if they are foolish enough not to see through the promises which all politicians make just when elections are around the corner!
Present at the press meet were Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Beena Naik, Mahila State office bearer Sonal Malvankar and South District Committee Secretary Royla Fernandes (who is fighting the forthcoming Assembly elections from Benaulim constituency in Goa).
Given the increasing crime centre which Goa is becoming, Beena Naik blames Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for being indifferent to women’s issues and paying only lip service to it. She urged Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai to immediately look in the matter of crimes against women in Goa and think about dismissing the government for its sins of omission and commission. She also presented a long list of nasty things which have happened to make women fear for their security and life in Goa in the last seven years during BJP has been in power and during which time law and order has come to a total collapse.