Panaji: The All India Trinamool Congress party on Wednesday said that they are working on 10-15 out of 40 Assembly segments in the coastal state.
AITC’s spokesman Trojano D’Mello, addressing a press conference along with State Convenor Mariano Rodrigues, said that during the 2022 Goa Legislative Assembly elections, the party had a voting share of ten percent.
“The All India Trinamool Congress came to Goa in 2022. We were welcomed by the people of Goa. We contested the assembly elections. We got about 10 percent of the vote. We are committed to Goa. We are here to stay,” he said.
AITC had failed to win any of the seats in the assembly elections.
D’Mello on Wednesday said that the party will contest the upcoming Zilla Panchayat elections, scheduled to be held later this year.
He said, “AITC is here for the long run. 100 percent commitment. Because that is what our leader AITC Chairperson Mamata Banerjee believes in.”
The spokesman said that AITC is working on the ground, in about 10-15 assembly segments in Goa. “AITC Goa workers are in touch with the people every day. We are there with the people, without making much noise,” he said.
He pointed out that AITC parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien, who is also a member of the AITC national working committee, raised an important issue in Parliament — the need to preserve Goa’s rich coastal culture.
D’Mello said that the coastal culture of Goa is basically made up of two communities.
“One is the fishing community with all their great traditions and the other is the toddy-tapping community. These vibrant communities have a great tradition, but now they are going through an existential crisis. It is primarily because of the CRZ, the Coastal Regulation Zones,” he said.
“As a result, these fishermen cannot build homes, cannot park their boats, and face all kinds of problems,” he added.
D’Mello said that with surging land prices, these communities are unable to afford alternative land.
“Worse than that, the trawlers are coming and robbing them of their livelihood. This is affecting 20,000 fishermen and about 1 lakh people in this community,” he said.
D’Mello said that AITC has shown in Bengal how to work for the welfare of fishermen. “There is a special scheme called ‘Samudra Sathi Scheme’ under which each fisherman gets Rs 10,000 for two months during the off-fishing season. There is another scheme called ‘Matsya Jeebi Credit Card,’” he said.
