Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday took a dig at his Karnataka counterpart D K Shivakumar over his recent speech in Kannada during the Congress’s Goy Rakhonn Yatra, saying speaking the language would not help win votes in Goa, where people know Konkani well.
“If someone comes here and speaks ‘yendu gundu’, that won’t get him votes. Goans know Konkani very well,” Sawant said while inaugurating the BJP’s Cortalim constituency office in South Goa’s Mormugao taluka.
Shivakumar had addressed a gathering in Kannada at Cortalim constituency during the Congress’s Goy Rakhonn Yatra, organised to raise issues concerning the protection of Goa’s identity and interests.
At the public meeting, Sawant also said the BJP was aiming to win 30 seats in the 2027 Goa Assembly elections and wanted Cortalim to be part of the tally.
“We want to win 30 seats in the 2027 elections, and in that tally, I want Cortalim constituency to be part of it. We want to repeat history,” he said.
Recalling the BJP’s victories in Cortalim in 2012 and 2017, Sawant also remembered former MLA late Matanhy Saldanha, a prominent leader associated with the constituency.
While Matanhy Saldanha was elected from the Cortalim constituency on a BJP ticket in the 2012 Assembly elections, his wife, Alina Saldanha, retained the seat for the party in the 2017 elections following his demise.
He noted that the South Goa Collectorate building had been named after Saldanha.
The BJP office was inaugurated in the presence of party’s Goa president Damu Naik, Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Shet Tanavade, MLAs Daji Salkar and Sankalp Amonkar, former MP Narendra Sawaikar and other party functionaries.
Cortalim is currently represented by Independent MLA Anton Vaz.
The BJP said the new office would serve as a link between party workers and residents, helping strengthen the organisation and improve outreach at the grassroots level.
