BJP not communal, say Goa MLAs Mangalore, Apr 27, 2013, DHNS : Minorities must stop looking at the BJP as a communal party. Instead, they should give a chance to it. Only the BJP can usher in development and progress, said Calangute MLA Michael Lobo.
Speaking to presspersons along with other three MLAs from Goa Glen D’Souza Ticolo (Aldano), Carlos Almeida (Vasco), Nilesh Cabral (Curchorem), Goa BJP working Committee member Juinho D’Souza and vice president Datta Prasad Kholkar, Lobo said that after the BJP government came to power in Goa, everything has changed for the good. The Congress government which had come to power in Goa, was mired in corruptio. “The Congress had played with the minorities by creating a sense of fear among them, by terming BJP as a communal party. Now, after the minorities supported the BJP, things have changed,” he said. The delegation claimed that Catholics of Mangalore in particular have a misconception that the BJP is a communal party and appealed to them to support the party in the Assembly elections. The BJP-led state government has been giving good governance in Goa. The people who were fed up with the maladministration of the Congress are happy, said MLA Nilesh Cabral. When asked on the series of church attacks that took place in Karnataka during the BJP’s rule, Lobo said that the perpetrators of violence had nothing to do with the BJP. “A few miscreants had carried out violent activities. But they had nothing to do with the BJP. In Goa, Sri Rama Sene wanted to set up its base but our government warned them from even entering Goa. Similarly, the Bajrang Dal is not part of the BJP.” An election campaign vehicle of the BJP equipped with a large LED screen was flagged off on the occasion. The vehicle will highlight the achievement of the State government. As many as 22 such vehicles will be used for the campaign across the State. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/328921/bjp-not-communal-say-goa.html * * * BJP ropes in Goan Christian MLAs TNN Apr 28, 2013, 01.11PM IST MANGALORE: It is called Rome of the East and not without any reason. Keeping this in mind, the BJP has requisitioned support of Catholic party MLAs from neighbouring Goa to keep its campaign trail in Mangalore City South assembly constituency in high spirits. The MLAs - Michael Lobo, Glen Souza Ticolo, Nilesh Cabral, and Juinho D'Souza - are working overtime to spread their charm among the Catholic Christian voters here. Forthright in his opinion that Congress unsuccessfully raised bogey of BJP being a communal outfit back home in Goa, Michael Lobo, Calangute MLA, said: "The minorities should join the BJP to ascertain if the party is communal or not. Seven out of 21 MLAs in the 40-member Goan assembly are minorities and it is the resolve of the minorities whom Congress tried to polarize against us that sent the corrupt Congress on their way." Asked if the attacks on churches that took place under the BJP regime in the state would go against the party, Michael, who with his colleagues met the Bishop Most Rev Aloysius Paul D'Souza earlier said, "The BJP is not directly involved in it. Besides, the state government has taken strict action against elements that were responsible for the incident," Michael said, adding that even the priests they spoke too found the government's action satisfactory. Nilesh Cabral, Curchorem MLA, said that the 'taboo of BJP being communal party' has been addressed effectively in Goa and it is time that the electorate in Karnataka addressed this bogey as well. Admitting that every section of society has apprehension vis-a-vis a national political party, Nilesh said that such apprehensions are fawned by 'different' elements present in society. "There has been no communal incident in Goa ever since BJP came to power there," he said. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-04-28/mangalore/38878130_1_21-mlas-nilesh-cabral-communal-party